title: Effects of Postconditioning on Neurogenesis and Angiogenesis During the Recovery Phase After Focal Cerebral Ischemia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Postconditioning may be a clinically feasible way to protect the brain after a stroke. However, its effects during the recovery phase post stroke remain to be fully elucidated. Here, we examine the hypothesis that ischemic postconditioning amplifies neurogenesis and angiogenesis during stroke recovery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 100-minute transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) or postconditioning (100-minute middle cerebral artery occlusion plus 10-minute reperfusion plus 10-minute reocclusion). After 2 weeks, infarct volumes, behavioral outcomes, and immunohistochemical markers of neurogenesis and angiogenesis were quantified.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Postconditioning significantly reduced infarction and improved neurological outcomes. Concomitantly, brains subjected to postconditioning showed an increase in doublecortin/BrdU and collagen-IV/Ki67-positive cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that therapeutic effects of postconditioning may involve the promotion of neurogenesis and angiogenic remodeling during the recovery phase after focal cerebral ischemia.
authors.affiliation: From the Departments of Neurology and Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston.
authors.forename: Elga
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Esposito
authors.affiliation: From the Departments of Neurology and Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston.
authors.forename: Kazuhide
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hayakawa
authors.affiliation: From the Departments of Neurology and Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston.
authors.forename: Takakuni
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maki
authors.affiliation: From the Departments of Neurology and Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.affiliation: From the Departments of Neurology and Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston. lo@helix.mgh.harvard.edu eesposito@partners.org.
authors.forename: Eng H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Lo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000089662:Doublecortin Protein; D020244:Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000628:therapy*; D057775:Ischemic Postconditioning / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000502:physiology*; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D015424:Reperfusion / Q000379:methods*
keywords: brain ischemia; infarction; ischemic postconditioning; neurogenesis; stroke