Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0599766 (functional recovery)
 13,441 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Molecular mechanisms underlying the role of statins in the induction of brain plasticity and subsequent improvement of neurologic outcome after treatment of stroke have not been adequately investigated. Here, we use both in vivo and in vitro studies to investigate the potential roles of two prominent factors, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), in mediating brain plasticity after treatment of stroke with atorvastatin. Treatment of stroke in adult mice with atorvastatin daily for 14 days, starting at 24 hours after MCAO, shows significant improvement in functional recovery compared with control animals. Atorvastatin increases VEGF, VEGFR2 and BDNF expression in the ischemic border. Numbers of migrating neurons, developmental neurons and synaptophysin-positive cells as well as indices of angiogenesis were significantly increased in the atorvastatin treatment group, compared with controls. In addition, atorvastatin significantly increased brain subventricular zone (SVZ) explant cell migration in vitro. Anti-BDNF antibody significantly inhibited atorvastatin-induced SVZ explant cell migration, indicating a prominent role for BDNF in progenitor cell migration. Mouse brain endothelial cell culture expression of BDNF and VEGFR2 was significantly increased in atorvastatin-treated cells compared with control cells. Inhibition of VEGFR2 significantly decreased expression of BDNF in brain endothelial cells. These data indicate that atorvastatin promotes angiogenesis, brain plasticity and enhances functional recovery after stroke. In addition, VEGF, VEGFR2 and BDNF likely contribute to these restorative processes.
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PMID:Atorvastatin induction of VEGF and BDNF promotes brain plasticity after stroke in mice. 1567 29

Statins exert beneficial effects in brain diseases including stroke. Here, we investigated whether oral prophylactic atorvastatin provides long-term neuroprotection and functional recovery in permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO), and whether cerebral hemodynamics are affected. Male Long-Evans rats were treated with 10 mg/kg oral atorvastatin for 14 days and subjected to pMCAO. Cerebral hemodynamics were measured by bolus tracking MRI and laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF). Infarct volume was quantified at 1 week by T2-MRI and at 3 weeks by histology. Rats were also subjected to neuroscoring and cylinder test. The number of animals per group was 10. The infarct volumes were 100.8 +/- 8.2 and 47.3 +/- 5.5 mm(3) in vehicle, and 68.7 +/- 11.0 and 28.6 +/- 3.82 mm(3) in atorvastatin group at 7 and 21 days post-ischemia, respectively (mean +/- SEM). Atorvastatin significantly reduced infarct volume both at 7 and 21 days (P = 0.04 and 0.03, respectively, 1-way ANOVA). Interestingly, no improvement in cerebral hemodynamic parameters was observed in atorvastatin treated animals. The vehicle group recovered normal neuroscore at day 13, whereas atorvastatin group recovered already at day 10 after pMCAO. All treatment groups preferred to use the unaffected forelimb for rearing in Cylinder test, whereas the defected forelimb use was minimal in all groups. These results suggest that oral atorvastatin protects cerebral tissue against the subsequent pMCAO without influencing cerebral hemodynamic parameters, and it may well be that persons with ongoing atorvastatin treatment benefit in the incidence of stroke.
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PMID:Long-term protective effect of atorvastatin in permanent focal cerebral ischemia. 1602 89

Neurogenesis declines with advancing age. The mammalian achaete-scute homologue-1 encodes a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, which controls neuronal differentiation. In this study, we first tested whether atorvastatin treatment enhances neurological functional outcome and neuronal differentiation after stroke in retired breeder 12 month rats. Rats were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion and treated with or without atorvastatin (3 mg/kg) for 7 days. Atorvastatin significantly increased expression of mammalian achaete-scute homologue-1, beta-tubulin III, and vascular endothelial growth factor in the ischemic brain, and concomitantly improved functional outcome compared with middle cerebral artery occlusion control rats. Increased neurogenesis significantly correlated with functional recovery after stroke. To further investigate the mechanisms of atorvastatin-induced neuronal differentiation, experiments were performed on neurospheres derived from retired breeder rat subventricular zone cells. Atorvastatin increased neuronal differentiation and upregulated vascular endothelial growth factor and mammalian achaete-scute homologue-1 gene expression in cultured neurospheres. Vascular endothelial growth factor-treated neurospheres significantly increased mammalian achaete-scute homologue-1 and beta-tubulin III expression. Inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor decreased atorvastatin-induced mammalian achaete-scute homologue-1 and beta-tubulin III expression. These data indicate that atorvastatin increases neuronal differentiation in retired breeder rats. In addition, atorvastatin upregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor expression, influences mammalian achaete-scute homologue-1 transcription factor, which in turn, facilitates an increase in subventricular zone neuronal differentiation. These atorvastatin-mediated molecular events may contribute to the improved functional outcome in retired breeder rats subjected to stroke.
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PMID:Vascular endothelial growth factor mediates atorvastatin-induced mammalian achaete-scute homologue-1 gene expression and neuronal differentiation after stroke in retired breeder rats. 1673 Sep 14

Nerve regeneration and functional recovery are often incomplete after peripheral neurotmetic lesion. Atorvastatin has been shown to be neuroprotective after transient ischaemia or traumatic injury. The aim of this study was to establish if systemic administration of Atorvastatin could improve functional muscle reinnervation after complete sciatic nerve section. Sixteen female Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study. After a complete right sciatic nerve section, end-to-end microsuture repair was performed and fibrin glue was added. Three groups were studied: (1) sutures (S) + fibrin glue (F) only + saline administration for 14 days; (2) S+F+Atorvastatin administration for 14 days; and (3) uninjured nerve. Five months later, the sciatic nerve and the gastrocnemius muscle were isolated to perform in vivo electrophysiological measurements. Better kinematics was observed in atorvastatin-treated rats 5 months after its administration. Indeed, a larger excursion of the hip-ankle-toe angle during walking was observed. This effect was associated with the preservation of electromyographic activity (2.91 mV vs 0.77 mV) and maximal muscle force (85.1 g vs 28.6 g) on stimulation of the proximal nerve section. Five months after a neurotmetic lesion, the recovery is incomplete when using suture and fibrin glue only. Furthermore, the systemic administration of Atorvastatin for 14 days after lesion was beneficial in improving locomotion capability associated with the re-establishment of muscle strength and EMG activity.
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PMID:Atorvastatin is beneficial for muscle reinnervation after complete sciatic nerve section in rats. 2384 26