Progesterone protects endothelial cells after cerebrovascular occlusion by decreasing MCP-1- and CXCL1-mediated macrophage infiltration》.pdfVIP

Experimental Neurology 271 (2015) 401–408 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Experimental Neurology journa l homepage: /locate/yexnr Research Paper Progesterone protects endothelial cells after cerebrovascular occlusion by decreasing MCP-1- and CXCL1-mediated macrophage infiltration☆ Ebony Washington Remus a, Iqbal Sayeed a, Soonmi Won a, Alicia N. Lyle b, Donald G. Stein a,⁎ a Department of Emergency Medicine Brain Research Laboratory, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA b Department of Cardiology, Emory University Atlanta, GA, USA a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: The neuroprotective effects of progesterone after ischemic stroke have been established, but the role of proges- Received 14 May 2015 terone in promoting cerebrovascular repair remains under-explored. Male Sprague–Dawley rats underwent Received in revised form 29 June 2015 transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) for 90 min followed by reperfusion for 3 days. Progesterone Accepted 13 July 2015 (8 mg/kg/day) was administered intraperitoneally at 1 h after initial occlusion followed by subcutaneous injec- Available online 17 July 2015 tions at 6, 24 and 48 h post-occlusion. Rats were euthanized after 72 h and brain endothelial cell density and mac- Keywords: rophage infiltration were evaluated within the cerebral cortex. We also assessed progesterones ability to induce Brain ischemia