Early administration of cyclosporin A providing neuroprotection in experimental rats with cerebral hemorrhage

Objective To assess the impact of early administration of cyclosporine A (CsA) in neuroprotection in experimental rats with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Methods Ninety-six male SD rats were randomly divided into sham-operated group, ICH+vehicle group, ICH+CsA 5 mg group and ICH+ CsA 10 mg group (n=24). And 100 mL autologous blood from the right femoral artery was injected into the right basal ganglia to induce ICH models in the later three groups. Tail vein administration of 5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg CsA was performed in the later two groups 15 min after ICH, and then, once every 24 h. Twenty-four h after ICH, MR imaging was performed; brain water content was measured by Wet and dry weight method; blood-brain barrier permeability was detected by Evans blue (EB) method. Seventy-two h after ICH, NISSL and TUNEL were employed to detect the cell apoptosis, and neurological deficit scale scores were recorded. Results Twenty-four h after ICH, ICH+ vehicle group had significantly severer cerebral edema, significantly increased water content of brain tissues (79.55%±0.09%) and EB content ([5.53±0.26] μg/g) as compared with sham-operated group (78.22%±0.14%, [2.55±0.13] μg/g), with significant differences (P<0.05); ICH+ CsA 10 mg group had significantly alleviated cerebral edema, significantly decreased water content of brain tissues (78.70%±0.07%) and EB content ([3.24±0.16] μg/g) as compared with ICH+vehicle group and ICH+ CsA 5 mg group (78.91%±0.11%, [4.12±0.12] μg/g), with significant differences (P<0.05). Seventy-two h after ICH, ICH+ vehicle group had decreased number of brain tissue cells around the hematoma, increased apoptosis cells (180.00±12.43) and decreased neurological deficit scale scores as compared with sham-operated group (26.00±7.29), with significant differences (P<0.05); ICH+CsA 10 mg group had decreased apoptosis cells (69.33±11.31) and increased neurological deficit scale scores as compared with ICH+vehicle group and ICH+CsA 5 mg group (95.00±8.99), with significant differences (P<0.05). Conclusion Early application of CsA can improve brain edema, blood-brain barrier permeability, decrease neuronal apoptosis and improve neurological deficit scale scores after ICH. Key words: Intracerebral hemorrhage; Cyclosporin A; Brain edema; Blood brain barrier; Neuronal apoptosis