title: Effects of delayed intrathecal infusion of an NMDA receptor antagonist on ischemic injury and peri-infarct depolarizations.
abstract: The potent NMDA receptor antagonist, Conantokin-G (CGX-1007), a snail peptide, has an 8-h therapeutic window in rat focal cerebral ischemia. We hypothesized that the mechanism of neuroprotection is the inhibition of 'secondary phase' peri-infarct depolarizations (PIDs), recently shown to recur 6--24 h post-reperfusion. Rats were implanted with intrathecal (i.t.) catheters for drug delivery and DC-compatible electrodes for continuous PID monitoring and subjected to transient (2 h) middle cerebral artery occlusion. Four groups were studied. In two groups (C(40)C and C(20)C), continuous infusion of CGX--1007 was administered over 8--24 h post-occlusion at 0.1 microg/h (0.04 nmol/h) following either a 40- or 20-nmol bolus dose at 8 h. Another group (C(40)S) received the 40-nmol bolus followed by saline infusion, and a control group received saline. Intrathecal drug treatment reduced infarct volumes relative to controls by 61%, 31%, and 10% in C(40)C, C(40)S, and C(20)C groups, respectively, but also induced dose-dependent paralysis and elevated mortality. All rats had PID rates similar to the control group prior to treatment, but following treatment secondary phase PIDs were reduced by 47--57% in each drug group compared to controls. Because several animals exhibited PID inhibition but no neuroprotection, there was no significant correlation between these endpoints across groups. However, drug-treated animals that did not exhibit secondary phase PIDs prior to treatment had significantly smaller infarcts and reduced subsequent PID activity than corresponding control rats. Results suggest that post-reperfusion PIDs play a substantial, though still undefined pathogenic role in delayed maturation of cerebral infarction and NMDA receptor-targeted neuroprotection.
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, 503 Robert Grant Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA.
authors.forename: X-C May
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Anthony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Wagstaff
authors.forename: Frank C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Tortella
authors.forename: Jed A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hartings
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000187:drug effects; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D020520:Brain Infarction / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D020916:Conotoxins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D013181:Cortical Spreading Depression / Q000187:drug effects*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004566:Electrodes; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D020244:Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D007511:Ischemia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015424:Reperfusion / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D020916:Conotoxins; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; C055407:conotoxin GV