1-3-dimethylthiourea and Brain-Ischemia

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are the essential mechanism involving in the ischemic process. Due to their complex characteristics, the precise effects of ROS on post-ischemic neurons remain uncertain. This study aimed to investigate the potential role of ROS in brain ischemia.. Dynamic ROS levels in the perifocal cortex were evaluated after right middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) of SD rats. Furthermore the role of ROS was assessed following delayed treatment with the ROS scavenger dimethylthiourea (DMTU) after brain ischemia.. ROS levels markedly increased at 1 hr after reperfusion and then gradually decreased as the post-reperfusion time interval increased. ROS levels reached their lowest point at 3 days after reperfusion before increasing and showing a second peak at 7 days after reperfusion. ROS levels negatively correlated with neurological function scores. Delayed DMTU treatment after stroke worsened neurological outcomes, decreased microvessel density and inhibited stress-activated protein kinase activation.. ROS may play a biphasic role in cerebral ischemia. Namely, ROS may induce damage during the injury phase of brain ischemia and participate in improving neurological function during the recovery phase.

Topics: Animals; Brain; Brain Ischemia; Disease Models, Animal; Free Radical Scavengers; Humans; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery; Male; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Reactive Oxygen Species; Recovery of Function; Thiourea; Time Factors

To investigate the neuroprotective effects and dose-response relation by combining JAK-STAT signal pathway inhibitor (AG490) with free radical scavenger dimethylthiourea (DMTU) in rats subjected to focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury.. In all rats, the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was produced by occlusion of right internal carotid artery with a nylon monofilament. One hundred male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into ten groups according to random digits table, 10 rats were in each group. The first experiment involved I/R model control, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) control, normal saline (NS) control, AG490, DMTU and combination of AG490 and DMTU (A+D) groups. The second experiment involved model group and three experimental groups in which various doses of DMTU and AG490 were administered. The neurological behavior scores (NBS) were assessed at 24, 48 and 72 hours after reperfusion respectively in both experiments, and all the animals were then decapitated to determine the brain infarct volume after 72 hours.. The values of NBS in A+D group, AG490 group and DMTU group were higher than those in model group at 24, 48 and 72 hours after I/R, and their brain infarct volumes were obviously smaller than model group as well (all P<0.05). The brain infarct volume in A+D group was obviously smaller compared with AG490 and DMTU alone (all P<0.05). The values of NBS were higher and the brain infarct volumes were smaller in both high dose and medium dose combination groups than those in low dose combination and model groups respectively (all P<0.05). In addition, brain infarct volumes in high dose group were smaller than medium dose group (P<0.05), but there was no statistically significant difference between low dose and model groups.. The combined application of AG490 and DMTU produces a dose-dependent synergistic neuroprotective effect.

Topics: Animals; Brain; Brain Ischemia; Disease Models, Animal; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Enzyme Inhibitors; Free Radical Scavengers; Male; Neuroprotective Agents; Random Allocation; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Reperfusion Injury; Signal Transduction; Thiourea; Tyrphostins

5-Lipoxygenase (5-LO) converts arachidonic acid, released from membrane phospholipids upon external stimulation, to leukotriene C4 (LTC4), which induces various kinds of cellular and molecular responses. We examined the effects of 5 min of ischemia on brain 5-LO and LTC4 during reperfusion using the gerbil model of transient forebrain ischemia that develops neuronal necrosis selectively in the hippocampus. Neurons exhibited dense 5-LO immunoreactivity; 5-LO was partially redistributed from cytosolic to particulate fractions 3 min during reperfusion. LTC4 was generated in neurons and was increased in all forebrain regions during reperfusion. Postischemic increases in LTC4 were inhomogeneous; a greater increase was observed in the hippocampus (13.37 +/- 0.24 pmol/g tissue) than in the other regions (cerebral cortex: 3.29 +/- 1.09 pmol/g). Superoxide dismutase and dimethylthiourea, oxygen radical scavengers, attenuated the production of LTC4 and damage to the neurons in the hippocampus during reperfusion. Our findings indicated that reperfusion, which was associated with translocation of cytosolic 5-LO to membranes and generation of oxygen radicals, induced the production of LTC4 and suggested that excess LTC4 production may mediate irreversible reperfusion injuries in the hippocampal neurons.

Topics: Animals; Arachidonate 5-Lipoxygenase; Brain Ischemia; Cerebral Cortex; Gerbillinae; Hippocampus; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Leukotriene C4; Male; Necrosis; Neurons; Recombinant Proteins; Reperfusion Injury; Superoxide Dismutase; Thiourea; Tissue Distribution

Attempts have been made to characterize conditions under which oxygen free radicals contribute to ischemic brain damage. According to one hypothesis, free radicals are likely mediators of damage only when ischemia is of such long duration that infarction develops or when either preischemic hyperglycemia or hyperthermia is present. The objective of the present study was to explore whether 15 minutes of forebrain ischemia, an insult that leads to selective neuronal vulnerability but not to infarction, is accompanied by production of pathogenetically important free radicals.. Using a histopathological end point, we studied amelioration of damage by a free radical scavenger, dimethylthiourea, administered in a dose of 750 mg/kg i.p. 60 minutes before ischemia. To study whether this insult leads to detectable protein oxidation we assessed the activity of glutamine synthetase and of carbonyl compounds in the soluble protein fraction.. In control animals, the transient ischemia resulted in the expected damage to vulnerable neurons in hippocampus, caudoputamen, and neocortex after 7 days of recovery. Glutamine synthetase activity in caudoputamen and hippocampus and carbonyl content in the soluble protein fraction after 90 minutes of recovery were not affected. However, dimethylthiourea significantly reduced damage to hippocampus and caudoputamen (p < 0.001) and neocortex (p < 0.005).. Lack of evidence of protein oxidation supports the notion that 15 minutes of forebrain ischemia results in a limited insult, confined to the neurons. Provided that unspecific effects can be excluded, the results obtained with dimethylthiourea suggest that free radicals contribute to selective neuronal necrosis.

Topics: Animals; Brain Ischemia; Disease Models, Animal; Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase; Hippocampus; Male; Neurons; Prosencephalon; Putamen; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Thiourea

It has been shown in vitro that dihydrolipoate (DL-6,8-dithioloctanoic acid) has antioxidant activity against microsomal lipid peroxidation. We tested dihydrolipoate for its neuroprotective activity using models of hypoxic and excitotoxic neuronal damage in vitro and rodent models of cerebral ischemia in vivo. In vitro, neuronal damage was induced in primary neuronal cultures derived form 7-day-old chick embryo telencephalon by adding either 1 mM cyanide or 1 mM glutamate to the cultures. Cyanide-exposed and dihydrolipoate-treated (10(-9)-10(-7) M) cultures showed an increased protein and ATP content compared with controls. The glutamate-exposed cultures treated with dihydrolipoate (10(-7)-10(-5) M) showed a decreased number of damaged neurons. In vivo, dihydrolipoate treatment (50 and 100 mg/kg) reduced brain infarction after permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion in mice and rats. Dihydrolipoate treatment (50 and 100 mg/kg) could not ameliorate neuronal damage in the rat hippocampus or cortex caused by 10 min of forebrain ischemia. A comparable neuroprotection was obtained by using dimethylthiourea, both in vitro (10(-7) and 10(-6) M) and at a dose of 750 mg/kg in the focal ischemia models. Lipoate, the oxidized form of dihydrolipoate, failed to reduce neuronal injury in any model tested. We conclude that dihydrolipoate, similarly to dimethylthiourea, is able to protect neurons against ischemic damage by diminishing the accumulation of reactive oxygen species within the cerebral tissue.

Topics: Animals; Blood Glucose; Blood Pressure; Body Temperature; Brain; Brain Ischemia; Glutamates; Glutamic Acid; Mice; Nervous System; Neurons; Rats; Rats, Inbred F344; Rectum; Thioctic Acid; Thiourea

Both oxygen free radicals and excitatory amino acids have been implicated as important cellular toxins in ischemic brain. Recent in vitro studies suggest that there may be a mutual interaction between these two mediators. We explored the relation between oxygen free radicals and excitatory amino acids in the development of ischemic brain edema in vivo. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with the free radical scavenger dimethylthiourea 1 hour before ischemia or with the excitotoxin antagonist MK-801 30 minutes before ischemia produced by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery. Groups of seven or eight animals were treated with vehicle, low-dose (375 mg/kg) dimethylthiourea, high-dose (750 mg/kg) dimethylthiourea, low-dose (0.5 mg/kg) MK-801, high-dose (2.0 mg/kg) MK-801, or both high-dose dimethylthiourea and low-dose MK-801. After 4 hours of ischemia, brain water content was determined. In eight vehicle-treated controls, mean +/- SEM water content of tissue in the center of the ischemic zone was 83.29 +/- 0.18%. A significant reduction of brain edema was observed in all drug-treated groups: for example, 50.2% (p less than 0.001) in the high-dose dimethylthiourea group, 53.7% (p less than 0.001) in the low-dose MK-801 group, and 66.4% (p less than 0.001) in the combined dimethylthiourea and MK-801 group. Combined treatment with dimethylthiourea and MK-801 provided no significant additive effect over that resulting from treatment with MK-801 alone.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Topics: Amino Acids; Animals; Brain; Brain Edema; Brain Ischemia; Dizocilpine Maleate; Drug Interactions; Free Radicals; Male; Neurotoxins; Oxygen; Potassium; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Sodium; Thiourea

Oxygen free radicals have been implicated as mediators of tissue damage in ischemic brain. We previously demonstrated that the hydroxyl radical scavenger 1,3-dimethyl-2-thiourea (DMTU) reduces infarct size after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in rats. The present study was undertaken to determine whether this protection results from a preservation of the CBF. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with DMTU (750 mg/kg i.p.) or saline vehicle 1 h before right MCAO. One-half 4, or 24 h after MCAO, animals were killed and samples were taken from the central, intermediate, and outer zones of the MCA distribution of each cortical mantle. Separate groups of animals were used to analyze these samples for water content (wet and dry weight), CBF [( 14C]butanol), or blood-brain barrier permeability [( 3H]alpha-aminoisobutyric acid). CBF was reduced in a graded fashion in the ischemic cortex: 0.169 +/- 0.020, 0.261 +/- 0.017, and 0.435 +/- 0.023 ml/g/min (mean +/- SEM, n = 8) after 4 h in the central, intermediate, and outer zones, respectively. Brain edema was present in a similar pattern, while blood-brain barrier permeability remained normal. Treatment with DMTU significantly reduced brain edema in the central and intermediate zones at both 4 and 24 h. However, CBF in the DMTU-treated animals was identical to that of the vehicle-treated animals. These results suggest that hydroxyl radicals play a role in the development of ischemic brain edema, but the mechanism does not appear to involve a direct effect on CBF.

Topics: Animals; Blood-Brain Barrier; Brain Edema; Brain Ischemia; Capillary Permeability; Cerebrovascular Circulation; Male; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Thiourea

The contribution of toxic O2 metabolites to cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury has not been determined. We found that gerbils subjected to temporary unilateral carotid artery occlusion (ischemia) consistently developed neurologic deficits during ischemia with severities that correlated with increasing degrees of brain edema and brain H2O2 levels after reperfusion. In contrast, gerbils treated just before reperfusion (after ischemia) with dimethylthiourea (DMTU), but not urea, had decreased brain edema and brain H2O2 levels. In addition, gerbils fed a tungsten-rich diet for 4, 5, or 6 wk developed progressive decreases in brain xanthine oxidase (XO) and brain XO + xanthine dehydrogenase (XD) activities, brain edema, and brain H2O2 levels after temporary unilateral carotid artery occlusion and reperfusion. In contrast to tungsten-treated gerbils, allopurinol-treated gerbils did not have statistically significant decreases in brain XO or XO + XD levels, and reduced brain edema and brain H2O2 levels occurred only in gerbils developing mild but not severe neurologic deficits during ischemia. Finally, gerbils treated with DMTU or tungsten all survived, while greater than 60% of gerbils treated with urea, allopurinol, or saline died by 48 h after temporary unilateral carotid artery occlusion and reperfusion. Our findings indicate that H2O2 from XO contributes to reperfusion-induced edema in brains subjected to temporary ischemia.

Topics: Allopurinol; Animals; Brain; Brain Chemistry; Brain Edema; Brain Ischemia; Female; Gerbillinae; Hydrogen Peroxide; Male; Nervous System Diseases; Thiourea; Tungsten; Urea; Xanthine Oxidase