title: Dipyridamole Treatment Prior to Stroke Onset: Examining Post-stroke Cerebral Circulation and Outcome in Rabbits.
abstract: Clinical observations have indicated that secondary treatment with dipyridamole (DIP) may ameliorate stroke severity. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of pre-stroke DIP treatment on stroke outcome in a rabbit model of embolic occlusion. Twenty male New Zealand white rabbits were randomly selected for intravenous treatment with DIP (n = 10) or saline (n = 10) for 7 days prior to an embolic cerebral occlusion by an autologous blood clot. Multiple computed tomography perfusion scans were acquired out to 28 days post-stroke to map cerebrohemodynamics, in conjunction with neurological assessments and histopathology. The DIP-treated group fared better than the saline group on several accounts: 66% of them survived to 28 days, whilst saline animals all had to be euthanized by day 7 due to severe neurological deficits. They presented with significantly more viable tissue in the ischemic hemisphere as well as fewer neurological deficits on days 4 and 7. Furthermore, DIP-treated animals exhibited improved cerebrohemodynamics by 24 h and had less incidence of haemorrhage within their infarcted regions (p < 0.05). DIP treatment prior to stroke onset can significantly improve neurological outcome, cerebral hemodynamics, and final infarct volume.
authors: The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada, cdesterr@uwo.ca.
authors: Christopher D
authors: CD
authors: d'Esterre
authors: Kenneth M
authors: KM
authors: Tichauer
authors: Richard I
authors: RI
authors: Aviv
authors: Wolfgang
authors: W
authors: Eisert
authors: Ting-Yim
authors: TY
authors: Lee