Background: A recent study suggests that patients with persistent occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) following treatment with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) have better outcomes than patients with MCA occlusion not receiving rt-PA. We performed a study to elucidate possible mechanisms of this finding in a new model of thromboembolic stroke closely mimicking human pathophysiology.
Methods: Thromboembolic stroke was induced by local injection of thrombin directly into the right MCA of C57 black/6J mice. Rt-PA was administered 20 and 40 min after clot formation. The efficiency of rt-PA to induce thrombolysis was measured by laser Doppler. After 24 h, all animals were euthanized and interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, Caspase-3, hsp 32 and hsp 70 protein levels were investigated by immunofluorescence. Presence of hemorrhage was verified and infarct volume was measured using histology.
Results: Thrombin injection resulted in clot formation giving rise to cortical brain infarction. Early rt-PA treatment starting at 20 min after the clot formation resulted in 100% recanalization. However, rt-PA-induced thrombolysis dissolved the clot in only 38% of the animals when administered 40 min after clot formation. Protein levels of IL-6, TNF-α, MMP-9, Caspase-3, hsp 32 and hsp 70 were increased after MCAO, whereas treatment with rt-PA attenuated the expressions of inflammatory markers in those animals where the thrombolysis was successful. In addition, the infarct size was significantly reduced with rt-PA treatment compared to non-treated MCAO, regardless of whether MCA thrombolysis was successful.
Conclusions: The present study demonstrates a clear correlation of the protein expression of inflammatory mediators, apoptosis and stress genes with the recanalization data after rt-PA treatment. In this model rt-PA treatment decreases the infarct size regardless of whether vessel recanalization is successful.