title: Fenofibrate improves cerebral blood flow after middle cerebral artery occlusion in mice.
abstract: Fibrates, one group of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) activators, are lipid lowering drugs. Fibrates have been shown to attenuate brain tissue injury after focal cerebral ischemia. In this study, we investigated the impact of fenofibrate on cerebral blood flow (CBF) in male wild type and PPARalpha-null mice. Animals were treated for 7 days with fenofibrate and subjected to 2 h of filamentous middle cerebral artery occlusion and reperfusion under isoflurane anesthesia. Cortical surface CBF was measured by laser speckle imaging. Regional CBF (rCBF) in nonischemic animals was measured by (14)C-iodoantipyrine autoradiography. Fenofibrate did not affect rCBF and mean arterial blood pressure in nonischemic animals. In ischemic animals, laser speckle imaging showed delayed expansions of ischemic area, which was attenuated by fenofibrate. Fenofibrate also enhanced CBF recovery after reperfusion. However, such effects of fenofibrate on CBF in the ischemic brain were not observed in PPARalpha-null mice. These findings show that fenofibrate improves CBF in the ischemic hemisphere. Moreover, fenofibrate requires PPARalpha expression for the cerebrovascular protective effects in the ischemic brain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Neuroscience Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30310, USA.
authors.forename: Qingmin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Guangming
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shobu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Namura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000983:Antipyrine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D001345:Autoradiography; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D002196:Capillaries / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000473:pathology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D011345:Fenofibrate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000502:physiology; D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D020768:Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000502:physiology*; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D047493:PPAR alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D012313:RNA / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents; D047493:PPAR alpha; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D014280:Triglycerides; D012313:RNA; D002784:Cholesterol; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; D000983:Antipyrine; D011345:Fenofibrate; C008135:iodoantipyrine