CDP-choline at high doses is as effective as i.v. thrombolysis in experimental animal stroke.

Abstract

Use of thrombolysis in acute ischaemic stroke may be limited by a narrow benefit/risk ratio. Pharmacological inhibition of the ischaemic cascade may constitute an effective and safer approach to stroke treatment. This study compared the effects of high doses of cytidine diphosphate-choline (CDP-choline; 1000 mg/kg) with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA; 5 mg/kg) in an experimental animal model of embolic stroke. Fifteen rats were embolized in the right internal carotid artery with an autologous clot and were divided into three groups: (1) infarct; (2) intravenous rt-PA 5 mg/kg 30 minutes post-embolization; and (3) CDP-choline 1000 mg/kg, intraperitoneal, three doses, 30 minutes, 24 hours, and 48 hours post-embolization. Functional evaluation scores were evaluated using Rogers test, lesion volume by haematoxylin and eosin staining, cell death with transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling, and plasma levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In this study, CDP-choline and rt-PA produced a significant reduction in brain damage considering infarct volume, cell death, and inflammatory cytokines (tumour necrosis factor-alpha and IL-6) compared with the infarct group. Additionally, CDP-choline significantly decreased infarct volume, cell death, and IL-6 levels with respect to the rt-PA group. From these results, we conclude that high-dose CDP-choline may be an effective treatment for acute ischaemic stroke even in absence of thrombolysis.

• Authors: María Gutiérrez-Fernández, María Alonso de Leciñana, Berta Rodríguez-Frutos, Jaime Ramos-Cejudo, José María Roda, Exuperio Díez-Tejedor
• Journal: Neurological research (Neurol Res) Vol. 34 Issue 7 Pg. 649-56 (Sep 2012) ISSN: 1743-1328 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 22732142 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Nootropic Agents
• Cytidine Diphosphate Choline
• Tissue Plasminogen Activator

Topics

• Animals
• Cytidine Diphosphate Choline (administration & dosage)
• Disease Models, Animal
• Infusions, Intravenous
• Male
• Nootropic Agents (administration & dosage)
• Random Allocation
• Rats
• Rats, Long-Evans
• Stroke (drug therapy, pathology)
• Thrombolytic Therapy (methods)
• Tissue Plasminogen Activator (administration & dosage)
• Treatment Outcome