Capsaicin pre-treatment provides neurovascular protection against neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in rats.

Abstract

Capsaicin, a transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) agonist, has recently been shown to provide neuroprotection against brain injury in experimental adult models of cerebral ischemia. Accordingly, in this study, we investigated the way in which capsaicin-mediated TRPV1 modulation could attenuate damage in an experimental hypoxic-ischemic (HI) neonatal brain injury model. The Rice-Vannucci method was used in 10-day-old rat pups by performing unilateral carotid artery ligation followed by 2 h of hypoxia (8% O2 at 37°C). Capsaicin was administered intraperitoneally (0.2 mg/kg or 2.0 mg/kg) at 3 h pre-HI or 1 h post-HI. Post assessment included measurement of infarction volume at 24 and 72 h in addition to an assessment of the vascular dynamics of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) at 6 h post-HI. The results indicated that pre-treatment with capsaicin reduced infarction volume significantly with either low-dose or high-dose treatment. Pre-treatment also improved myogenic tone and decreased apoptotic changes in the distal MCA. We concluded that capsaicin pre-treatment may provide neurovascular protection against neonatal HI.

• Authors: Nikan H Khatibi, Vikram Jadhav, Shelton Charles, Jeffrey Chiu, John Buchholz, Jiping Tang, John H Zhang
• Journal: Acta neurochirurgica. Supplement (Acta Neurochir Suppl) Vol. 111 Pg. 225-30 ( 2011) ISSN: 0065-1419 [Print] Austria
• PMID: 21725760 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)

Chemical References

• Neuroprotective Agents
• TRPV Cation Channels
• Tetrazolium Salts
• Trpv1 protein, rat
• von Willebrand Factor
• triphenyltetrazolium
• Phosphopyruvate Hydratase
• Capsaicin

Topics

• Analysis of Variance
• Animals
• Animals, Newborn
• Brain Infarction (etiology, prevention & control)
• Capsaicin (administration & dosage)
• Disease Models, Animal
• Drug Administration Schedule
• Gene Expression Regulation (drug effects)
• Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery (pathology, prevention & control)
• Middle Cerebral Artery (drug effects, pathology)
• Neuroprotective Agents (administration & dosage)
• Phosphopyruvate Hydratase (metabolism)
• Rats
• TRPV Cation Channels (metabolism)
• Tetrazolium Salts
• Time Factors
• von Willebrand Factor (metabolism)