Quicker metabolic recovery after forebrain ischemia in rats treated with the antioxidant U74006F

We used phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in a rat model of 10 minutes' severe incomplete forebrain ischemia (two-vessel occlusion with hypotension) to study the effects of preischemic and postischemic treatment with 3 mg/kg i.v. U74006F on the recovery of high-energy phosphates and intracellular pH during early reperfusion. The mean +/- SD time to 85% recovery of phosphocreatine was 14.1 +/- 8.4 minutes in the control group (n = 10) compared with 6.6 +/- 3.5 minutes (p less than 0.05) in the preischemic (n = 8) and 4.2 +/- 1.0 minutes (p less than 0.001) in the postischemic (n = 11) treatment groups. The mean +/- SD time to 80% recovery of adenosine triphosphate was 15.4 +/- 8.5 minutes in the control group compared with 6.3 +/- 1.8 (p less than 0.005) and 5.4 +/- 2.8 (p less than 0.001) minutes in the preischemic and postischemic treatment groups, respectively. There were no differences in intracellular pH between the control and either of the treatment groups. We conclude that U74006F led to quicker recovery of high-energy phosphates during early reperfusion, and this beneficial effect was also seen with postischemic treatment.