Novel Therapeutic Strategy to Treat Brain Ischemia

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Abstract
Background— Although cerebral occlusive disease leads to cerebral ischemic events, an effective treatment has not yet been established. An ideal therapeutic approach to treat ischemia might have both aspects of enhancement of collateral formation and prevention of neuronal death. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a potent angiogenic factor that also acts as a neurotrophic factor. Thus, in this study, we examined the therapeutic effects of HGF on brain injury in a rat permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion model. Methods and Results— Gene transfer into the brain was performed by injection of human HGF gene with hemagglutinating virus of Japan–envelope vector into the cerebrospinal fluid via the cisterna magna. Overexpression of the HGF gene resulted in a significant decrease in the infarcted brain area as assessed by triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining, whereas rats transfected with control vector exhibited a wide area of brain death after 24 hours of ischemia. Consistently, the decrease in neurolog...

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