Vascular protection and restorative therapy in ischemic stroke

Cell Transplant. 2011;20(1):95-7. doi: 10.3727/096368910X532800. Epub 2010 Sep 30.

Abstract

Possible strategies for treating stroke include: 1) thrombolytic therapy with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA): restoring cerebral blood flow in the acute phase of ischemic stroke but sometimes causing hemorrhagic transformation (HT); 2) stem cell therapy: the repair of disrupted neuronal networks with newly born neurons in the chronic phase of ischemic stroke. Firstly, we estimated the vascular protective effect of a free radical scavenger, edaravone, in the tPA-treated rat model of middle cerebral artery occlusion. Edaravone prevented dramatically decreased the hemorrhagic transformation and improved the neurologic score and survival rate of tPA-treated rats. Secondly, we attempted to restore brain tissue using a novel biomaterial, polydimethysiloxane-tetraethoxysilane (PDMS-TEOS) hybrid with or without vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and we could show that implantation of a PDMS-TEOS scaffold with VEGF might be effective for treating old brain infarction or trauma. In the future, we will combine these strategies to develop more effective therapies for treatment of strokes.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Brain Ischemia / complications
  • Brain Ischemia / pathology
  • Brain Ischemia / therapy*
  • Dimethylpolysiloxanes / chemistry
  • Dimethylpolysiloxanes / therapeutic use
  • Endothelium, Vascular / physiology*
  • Neural Stem Cells / cytology
  • Neural Stem Cells / transplantation
  • Rats
  • Silanes / chemistry
  • Silanes / therapeutic use
  • Stroke / etiology
  • Stroke / pathology
  • Stroke / therapy*
  • Tissue Plasminogen Activator / therapeutic use
  • Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / therapeutic use

Substances

  • Dimethylpolysiloxanes
  • Silanes
  • Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A
  • tetraethoxysilane
  • Tissue Plasminogen Activator