Intracerebral injection of oil cyst content of human craniopharyngioma (oil machinery fluid) as a toxic model in the rat brain

Craniopharyngiomas (CPs) are benign epithelial cystic tumors of the sellar and suprasellar region with a high survival rate and high recurrence in children. CPs contain dense oily fluid, but little is known yet about this content and its contribution to tissue damage and tumoral growth. In this study, we developed a simple experimental model produced by intracortical injection to rats of the cyst fluid content collected from human CPs to explore its possible contribution to brain tissue damage. The cyst fluid of the CPs (“oil machinery fluid”) was collected during surgical removal, briefly preserved and further tested in rats through intracortical infusion. The group receiving “oil machinery fluid” presented increased reactive oxygen species formation, oxidative damage to lipids and reactive gliosis accompanied by augmented immunoreactivity to peroxiredoxin and thioredoxin reductase 1 at 15, 30 and 45 days post-injection. Other markers of inflammation and cell damage were stimulated at all post-lesion days tested. There was also a body weight gain. The persistence of tissue damage and oxidative stress suggests that “oil machinery fluid” exerts progressive alterations similar to those observed in patients with CPs, supporting the concept that some components of cyst fluid may contribute to brain tissue damage in these patients.