MK-801 REDUCES EXTENSIVE INFARCTION AFTER SUTURE MIDDLE CEREBRAL-ARTERY OCCLUSION IN RATS

We examined neurological deficits and infarct volumes, as determined by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining, 24 h after intraluminal suture occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) in 2 groups of 10 male Sprague-Dawley rats treated after the onset of ischemia with the noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist, dizocilpine maleate (MK-801) or saline. Although MK-801 caused a significant drop in blood pressure. It significantly improved the neurological status 24 h after MCA occlusion (p < 0.0002). It reduced total infarct volume, 301 +/- 30 mm3 in the control and 157 +/- 46 in the MK-801-treated group (mean +/- SEM, p < 0.02) and infarct areas in the caudoputamen (p < 0.01). Postocclusion MK-801 treatment protects ischemic brain damage even when a short duration of anesthesia is used with relatively long survival times in this stroke model.