title: Reversal of stroke induced lymphocytopenia by levodopa/benserazide treatment.
abstract: Evidences exist that dopamine is involved in T-cell homeostasis. Here, we investigated if daily treatment with levodopa (20mg/kg)/benserazide (15mg/kg) regulates the number of T-cells in the blood of Sprague Dawley rats subjected to transient occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (tMCAO). T-cells and associated inflammatory cytokines were analyzed in the blood one week after tMCAO. Treatment with levodopa/benserazide completely recovered T-helper cell depletion in animals subjected to tMCAO whereas T-cell associated cytokines remained unaffected after stroke, however, cytokines were downregulated in levodopa treated sham operated animals. Together, we demonstrate that dopamine has beneficial effects on poststroke immunodepression.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Experimental Brain Research, Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, BMC A13, S-22184 Lund, Sweden. Electronic address: enida.kuric@med.lu.se.
authors.forename: Enida
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kuric
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Experimental Brain Research, Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, BMC A13, S-22184 Lund, Sweden. Electronic address: karsten.ruscher@med.lu.se.
authors.forename: Karsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ruscher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001545:Benserazide / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004338:Drug Combinations; D007980:Levodopa / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008231:Lymphopenia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012074:Remission Induction / Q000379:methods; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D020521:Stroke / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D004338:Drug Combinations; C005177:benserazide, levodopa drug combination; D007980:Levodopa; D001545:Benserazide
keywords: Dopamine; Immunodepression; Levodopa; Stroke recovery; T-cells