title: Chronic nicotine treatment enhances focal ischemic brain injury and depletes free pool of brain microvascular tissue plasminogen activator in rats.
abstract: Effects of nicotine treatment (4.5 mg/kg of nicotine-free base/day administered s.c. by osmotic minipumps for 14 days) on focal ischemic stroke and expression of tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) in cerebral microvessels were studied in rats in vivo using a reversible (1 h) middle cerebral artery occlusion model. Plasma levels of nicotine and its major metabolite cotinine after 14 days of treatment were 88 and 364 ng/ml, respectively. Nicotine treatment resulted in 35-40% (p < 0.001) decrease in the blood flow in the periphery of the ischemic core during reperfusion, an increase in the neurologic score of 2.6-fold (p < 0.01), and 36% (p < 0.05) and 121% (p < 0.01) increases in the injury and edema volume in the pallium, respectively. A free pool of brain microvascular t-PA antigen was completely depleted by nicotine, while the expression of the PAI-1 antigen and/or PAI-1-t-PA complexes remained unchanged. The relative abundance of cerebromicrovascular t-PA mRNA transcript versus beta-actin mRNA transcript did not change with nicotine. It is concluded that chronic nicotine treatment impairs the restoration of blood flow, worsens the neurologic outcome, and enhances brain injury following an ischemic insult. These nicotine effects are associated with depletion of brain microvascular t-PA antigen.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Childrens Hospital, USC School of Medicine, Los Angeles, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kittaka
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Schreiber
authors.forename: B V
authors.initials: BV
authors.lastname: Zlokovic
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000187:drug effects; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000187:drug effects*; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002196:Capillaries / Q000378:metabolism; D003367:Cotinine / Q000097:blood; D005342:Fibrinolysis; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D009538:Nicotine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity*; D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012907:Smoking; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D009538:Nicotine; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator; D003367:Cotinine