title: Reduction in ischemic brain injury following the administration of pentoxifylline after transient global ischemia/ reperfusion in a rat model.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is well known that the hippocampus, the CA1 Pyramidal cells in particular, is selectively vulnerable during global cerebral ischemia. Recently, it is observed that pentoxifylline has a neuroprotective effect. This study explored the pharmacological relationship between ischemiainduced cell death of the hippocampus and the efficacy of a vasodilator agent (pentoxifylline) in the prevention of delayed neuronal death.
  
  
  METHODS
  This experimental study was performed on 4 groups: control, ischemia, experimental (200mg/kg pentoxifylline injection one hour prior to and one hour following ischemia) and vehicle (normal saline). Transient global ischemia was induced by bilateral common carotid arteries occlusion. To investigate the apoptotic bodies and caspase-3 activities as a central role in the execution phase of apoptosis, the brains were prepared for the TUNEL technique.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pentoxifylline administration limited apoptosis and caspase-3 activities in rats' hippocampi. Our data showed no significant difference between the number of apoptotic bodies in the CA1 region of the hippocampus in the control and pentoxifylline -treated groups (p= 0.994). The results of one- way ANOVA revealed that that ischemia significantly increased caspase-3 levels in the hippocampus (p< 0.05); however, the level of caspase-3 in pentoxifylline -treated rats was less than the ischemic group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that the neuroprotective effect of pentoxifylline (200mg/kg) may be accompanied by a reduction in ischemic damage within the CA1 region of the hippocampus in rats subjected to transient global cerebral ischemia.
authors.affiliation: PhD, Department of Anatomy, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Medical Branch, Tehran, Iran. nadiasharifi@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Nadia Sharifi
authors.affiliation: PhD, Department of Anatomy, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Medical Branch, Tehran, Iran. sm_movassaghi@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Shabnam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Movassaghi
authors.affiliation: MSc, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. farzaneh.mohammadzadeh@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Farzaneh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mohamadzadeh
authors.affiliation: PhD, Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. S.soleimaniasl@umsha.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Soleimani Asl
authors.affiliation: PhD, Neurophysiology Research Center, Department of Anatomy, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran. bagher.pourheydar@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Bagher
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pourheydar
authors.affiliation: PhD, Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Faculty of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. mehdizadeh.m@iums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mehdizadeh
keywords: Cerebral ischemia; Hippocampus; Pentoxifylline; Reperfusion