Donate Help Contact The AHA Sign In Home
American Heart Association
Stroke
Search: search_blue_button Advanced Search
Stroke. 1999;30:1279-1285

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Toung, T. J.
Right arrow Articles by Chan, P. H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Toung, T. J.
Right arrow Articles by Chan, P. H.
Right arrowPubmed/NCBI databases
*Compound via MeSH
*Substance via MeSH
Hazardous Substances DB
*NITRIC OXIDE
Medline Plus Health Information
*Transient Ischemic Attack

(Stroke. 1999;30:1279-1285.)
© 1999 American Heart Association, Inc.


Original Contributions

Neuroprotective FK506 Does Not Alter In Vivo Nitric Oxide Production During Ischemia and Early Reperfusion in Rats

Thomas J. Toung, MD; Anish Bhardwaj, MD; Valina L. Dawson, PhD; Ted M. Dawson, MD, PhD; Richard J. Traystman, PhD Patricia D. Hurn, PhD

From the Departments of Anesthesiology/Critical Care Medicine (T.J.T., A.B., R.J.T., P.D.H.), Neurology (A.B., V.L.D., T.M.D), and Neuroscience (V.L.D., T.M.D.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.

Correspondence to Patricia D. Hurn, PhD, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Blalock 1404, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 N Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD 21287. E-mail phurn{at}welchlink.welch.jhu.edu

Background and Purpose—Previous studies have demonstrated that the immunosuppressant FK506 provides neuroprotection in experimental brain injury and suggest that this action may be mediated by suppression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase activation that occurs after ischemic depolarization. We sought to determine whether FK506 reduces histological injury after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in the rat and whether the neuroprotective effect is mediated via suppression of in vivo nitric oxide (NO) production during ischemia or early reperfusion.

Methods—Under controlled conditions of normoxia, normocarbia, and normothermia, halothane-anesthetized male Wistar rats were subjected to 2 hours of MCAO by the intraluminal occlusion technique in a blinded, randomized experimental trial. Ipsilateral parietal cortical laser-Doppler flowmetry was monitored throughout ischemia. Animals were randomly assigned to 4 pretreatment groups: intravenous FK506 0.3 mg/kg or 1.0 mg/kg, vehicle (cremaphor), or an equivalent volume of saline administered 30 minutes before MCAO. Infarction volume was assessed by a triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining at 22 hours of reperfusion. In separate experiments, microdialysis probes were placed bilaterally into the striatum. Rats were perfused with artificial cerebrospinal fluid containing 3 µmol/L [14C]- L-arginine for 3 hours and then subjected to 2 hours of right MCAO. Intravenous 0.3 mg/kg FK506 or cremaphor was given 30 minutes before right MCAO. Right-left differences between [14C]-L-citrulline in the effluent were assumed to reflect differences in NO production.

Results—All values are mean±SE. FK506 at 0.3 mg/kg reduced infarction volume in cortex: 40±12 mm3 compared with saline (109±15 mm3) and cremaphor vehicle (148±23) (P<0.05). Striatal infarction was also reduced by low-dose FK506: 16±4 mm3 versus 36±4 mm3 and 34±4 mm3 in saline and vehicle groups, respectively (P<0.05). High-dose treatment reduced infarction volume in cortex (61±14 mm3, P<0.05 from saline and vehicle groups) and in striatum (22±5 mm3, P<0.05 from saline and vehicle groups). [14C]-L-citrulline recovery via microdialysis was markedly enhanced in ischemic compared with nonischemic striatum. However, ischemia-evoked [14C]-L-citrulline recovery was not different in FK506-treated rats compared with vehicle-treated animals.

Conclusions—These data demonstrate that FK506 provides robust neuroprotection against transient focal cerebral ischemia in the rat. The mechanism of protection in vivo is not through attenuation of ischemia-evoked NO production during MCAO and early reperfusion.

Editorial Comment

Pak H. Chan, PhD, Guest Editor

Departments of Neurosurgery, Neurology, and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg.Home page
T. Tachibana, N. Shiiya, T. Kunihara, Y. Wakamatsu, A. F. Kudo, T. Ooka, S. Watanabe, and K. Yasuda
Immunophilin ligands FK506 and cyclosporine A improve neurologic and histopathologic outcome after transient spinal cord ischemia in rabbits
J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg., January 1, 2005; 129(1): 123 - 128.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
StrokeHome page
M. Fisher
Recommendations for Advancing Development of Acute Stroke Therapies: Stroke Therapy Academic Industry Roundtable 3
Stroke, June 1, 2003; 34(6): 1539 - 1546.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Eur Heart JHome page
P. Di Napoli, A.A. Taccardi, M. Oliver, and R. De Caterina
Statins and stroke: evidence for cholesterol-independent effects
Eur. Heart J., December 2, 2002; 23(24): 1908 - 1921.
[PDF]


Home page
J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg.Home page
B. Krishnadasan, B. Naidu, M. Rosengart, A. L. Farr, A. Barnes, E. D. Verrier, and M. S. Mulligan
Decreased lung ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats after preoperative administration of cyclosporine and tacrolimus
J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg., April 1, 2002; 123(4): 756 - 767.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther.Home page
T. Matsuda, N. Arakawa, K. Takuma, Y. Kishida, Y. Kawasaki, M. Sakaue, K. Takahashi, T. Takahashi, T. Suzuki, T. Ota, et al.
SEA0400, a Novel and Selective Inhibitor of the Na+-Ca2+ Exchanger, Attenuates Reperfusion Injury in the in Vitro and in Vivo Cerebral Ischemic Models
J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., July 1, 2001; 298(1): 249 - 256.
[Abstract] [Full Text]


Home page
StrokeHome page
T. Goyagi, S. Goto, A. Bhardwaj, V. L. Dawson, P. D. Hurn, and J. R. Kirsch
Neuroprotective Effect of {{sigma}}1-Receptor Ligand 4-Phenyl-1-(4-Phenylbutyl) Piperidine (PPBP) Is Linked to Reduced Neuronal Nitric Oxide Production
Stroke, July 1, 2001; 32(7): 1613 - 1620.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Anesth. Analg.Home page
L. Lang-Lazdunski, C. Heurteaux, H. Dupont, D. Rouelle, C. Widmann, and J. Mantz
The Effects of FK506 on Neurologic and Histopathologic Outcome After Transient Spinal Cord Ischemia Induced by Aortic Cross-Clamping in Rats
Anesth. Analg., May 1, 2001; 92(5): 1237 - 1244.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
StrokeHome page
K. Fassbender, M. Fatar, A. Ragoschke, M. Picard, T. Bertsch, S. Kuehl, and M. Hennerici
Subacute But Not Acute Generation of Nitric Oxide in Focal Cerebral Ischemia
Stroke, September 1, 2000; 31(9): 2208 - 2211.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]