Chronic infusion of nerve growth factor does not rescue pyramidal cells after transient forebrain ischemia in the rat

Male Wistar rats received chronic intracerebroventricular infusions of nerve growth factor (NGF) starting immediately before induction of a transient forebrain ischemia and continuing until 7 days after the infarct. Ischemia was induced by carotid occlusion and simultaneous hypotension. Seven days after the infarct the brains were examined histologically and the number of necrotic cells in the hippocampus were counted. The results did not reveal any difference in treated vs. untreated animals. The data suggest that application of exogenous NGF does not prevent ischemic cell death in the hippocampus.