The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of
intravenous infusion of
basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in a permanent
ischemia model at the subacute phase (2 weeks) as well as at 24 hours and 1 week using T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The middle cerebral artery (MCA) in Sprague-Dawley rats was occluded using an intraluminal
suture method. The rats were randomly divided into 2 groups to receive either bFGF (45 mircrog/kg/hr) or
saline solution. The infusion was started 30 minutes after MCA occlusion (MCAO) and continued for 3 hours. Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured using
laser Doppler flowmetry throughout the infusion. T2-weighted MRI was carried out before MCAO, 24 hours after MCAO, and days 7 and 14 after MCAO. Although an elevation in rCBF was seen after the infusion, no significant change between the groups was observed. A significant difference between the bFGF and saline groups in T2-derived lesion volume was observed at 24 hours (P < .05), on day 7 (P < .05), and on day 14 (P < .01). The percentage of lesion area calculated from the ipsilateral hemisphere using
hematoxylin and
eosin staining on day 14 showed a significant difference between the bFGF and saline groups (P < .05). No significant change in the number of
bromodeoxyuridine (
BrdU)-labeled cells between the groups was observed. This study demonstrates that bFGF, infused intravenously starting 30 minutes after the induction of permanent MCAO, significantly reduces region volume even at day 14, as well as at days 1 and 7, compared with the corresponding saline group.