Transient Aortic Occlusion Augments Collateral Blood Flow and Reduces Mortality During Severe Ischemia due to Proximal Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion.

Cerebral collateral circulation provides alternative vascular routes for blood to reach ischemic tissues during stroke. Collateral therapeutics attempt to augment flow through these collateral channels to reduce ischemia and brain damage during acute ischemic stroke. Transient aortic occlusion (TAO) has pre-clinical data suggesting that it can augment collateral blood flow and clinical data suggesting a benefit for patients with moderate cortical strokes. By diverting blood from the periphery towards the cerebral circulation, TAO has the potential to augment primary collateral flow at the circle of Willis and thereby improve outcome even during large, hemispheric strokes. Using proximal middle and anterior cerebral artery occlusion in rats, we demonstrate that TAO reduces mortality and improves collateral blood flow in severely ischemic animals. As such, TAO may be an effective therapy to reduce early mortality during severe ischemia associated with proximal occlusions.

Augmenting collateral blood flow during ischemic stroke via transient aortic occlusion.

Collateral circulation provides an alternative route for blood flow to reach ischemic tissue during a stroke. Blood flow through the cerebral collaterals is a critical predictor of clinical prognosis after stroke and response to recanalization, but data on collateral dynamics and collateral therapeutics are lacking. Here, we investigate the efficacy of a novel approach to collateral blood flow augmentation to increase collateral circulation by optically recording blood flow in leptomeningeal collaterals in a clinically relevant model of ischemic stroke. Using high-resolution laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) during thromboembolic middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo), we demonstrate that transiently diverting blood flow from peripheral circulation towards the brain via intra-aortic catheter and balloon induces persistent increases in blood flow through anastomoses between the anterior and middle cerebral arteries. Increased collateral flow restores blood flow in the distal middle cerebral artery segments to baseline levels during aortic occlusion and persists for over 1 hour after removal of the aortic balloon. Given the importance of collateral circulation in predicting stroke outcome and response to treatment, and the potential of collateral flow augmentation as an adjuvant or stand-alone therapy for acute ischemic stroke, this data provide support for further development and translation of collateral therapeutics including transient aortic occlusion.

An in vivo and in vitro analysis of free radical scavenging potential possessed by Desmodium gangeticum chloroform root extract: interpretation by gsms.

In the present study, the effect of DG chloroform root extract was assessed on isolated rat heart and in-vitro antioxidant models. Ischemia reperfusion injury was experimentally induced by using Langendroff apparatus. The free radical scavenging potential was studied in vitro by using different antioxidant models such as DPPH, super oxide scavenging activity, hydroxide scavenging activity and nitric oxide scavenging activity. Both experimental approaches not only substantiate its antioxidant potential but also the cardio-protection imparted by the extract. The cardio-stimulatory effects were investigated for the extract by treating it as a pre-conditioning agent against myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury. The improved antioxidant status of the myocardium indirectly predicts reduced oxidative stress mediated by ischemic reperfusion with evident reduction of infarct size determined by cardiac marker protein. These findings indicate that DG chloroform root extract may possess therapeutic potential against ischemia reperfusion injury.