The antioxidant enzyme quinone reductase is up-regulated in vivo following cerebral ischemia

An astrocyte antioxidant enzyme, quinone reductase (QR), was studied in vivo to assess whether its activity was up-regulated following cerebral ischemia. Rats were given a unilateral focal cerebral infarct and regions of interest within the ischemic penumbra compared to the non-ischemic side for QR activity. At 7 days post-ischemia, QR activity was significantly upregulated within cells of astrocyte morphology in the cortex (P=0.007) and subcortical (p=0.005) areas adjacent to the infarct. This enzyme activity peaked at 7 days but was still significantly up-regulated at 14 days. Up-regulation of QR activity occurs within the ischemic penumbra of a stroke in this animal model and may contribute to factors that limit ischemic damage to neurons in this area. NeuroReport 12:1045-1048 (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.