Rosiglitazone attenuates cerebral vasospasm and provides neuroprotection in an experimental rat model of subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Abstract

Glutamate and oxidative stress play important roles after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The ability to modulate glutamate transporter 1 (GLT-1) and the antioxidative effect of rosiglitazone have been demonstrated. We investigated the neuroprotective effect of rosiglitazone after SAH. SAH was induced by double blood injection. The rats were randomly divided into sham, SAH + vehicle, and SAH + rosiglitazone groups and treated with dimethyl sulfoxide, dimethyl sulfoxide, and 6 mg/kg of rosiglitazone, respectively, at 2 and 12 h after SAH induction and then daily for 6 days. Cerebrospinal fluid dialysates were collected 30 min before SAH induction and then daily for 7 days for glutamate measurement. Mortality, body weight, and neurological scores were also measured daily. On day 7 after SAH, the wall thickness and the perimeter of the basilar artery (BA), neuron variability, GLT-1 levels, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression and activity, and malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, and catalase activities were also evaluated. Rosiglitazone improved survival (relative risk = 0.325) and neurological functions and reduced neuronal degeneration (5.7 ± 0.8 vs. 10.0 ± 0.9; P < 0.001) compared with the SAH + vehicle group. Rosiglitazone also lowered glutamate levels by 43.5-fold and upregulated GLT-1 expression by 1.5-fold and astrocyte activity by 1.8-fold compared with the SAH + vehicle group. The increase in BA wall thickness was significantly attenuated by rosiglitazone, whereas the perimeter of the BA was increased. In addition, rosiglitazone abated the 1.9-fold increase in malondialdehyde levels and the 1.6-fold increase in catalase activity after SAH. Rosiglitazone reduced SAH mortality, neurological deficits, body weight loss, GFAP loss, and cerebral vasospasm by preventing the neurotoxicity induced by glutamate and oxidative stress.