Abstract
BackgroundEarly exercise after stroke promoted angiogenesis and increased microvessles density. However, whether these newly formatted vessels indeed give rise to functional vascular and improve the cerebral blood flow (CBF) in impaired brain region is still unclear. The present study aimed to determine the effect of early exercise on angiogenesis and CBF in ischemic region.MethodsAdult male Sprague Dawley rats were subjected to 90 min middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO)and randomly divided into early exercise and non-exercised control group 24 h later. Two weeks later, CBF in ischemic region was determined by laser speckle flowmetry(LSF). Meantime, micro vessels density, the expression of tie-2, total Akt and phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt), and infarct volume were detected with immunohistochemistry, 2,3,5 triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining and western blotting respectively. The function was evaluated by seven point’s method.ResultsOur results showed that CBF, vessel density and expression of Tie-2, p-Akt in ischemic region were higher in early exercise group compared with those in non-exercise group. Consistent with these results, rats in early exercise group had a significantly reduced infarct volume and better functional outcomes than those in non-exercise group.ConclusionsOur results indicated that early exercise after MCAO improved the CBF in ischemic region, reduced infarct volume and promoted the functional outcomes, the underlying mechanism was correlated with angiogenesis in the ischemic cortex.
Highlights
Ischemic stroke is a major cause of disability and death (American Heart Association, 2009[1])
Utilizing Laser speckle flowmetry (LSF) technique in present study, we demonstrated that early exercise (2 weeks) after stroke improved angiogenesis in affected cortex; rats with early exercise had an increased cerebral blood flow (CBF), reduced infarct volume and promoted functional outcomes
Change of cerebral blood flow during middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) The change of CBF before and after operation were determined in all of rats by LSF, the results showed that MCAO induced a significant CBF decline (31.07%±1.95% of baseline, Figure 2)
Summary
Ischemic stroke is a major cause of disability and death (American Heart Association, 2009[1]). Angiogenesis is a process that forms new blood vessels. It occurs during normal embryonic development, some insults such as brain trauma and ischemia induced angiogenesis and vascular remodeling in adult [12,13]. Exercise after stroke promoted angiogenesis and increased microvessles density. Whether these newly formatted vessels give rise to functional vascular and improve the cerebral blood flow (CBF) in impaired brain region is still unclear. The present study aimed to determine the effect of early exercise on angiogenesis and CBF in ischemic region
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