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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Quantification of Neurovascular Protection Following Repetitive Hypoxic Preconditioning and Transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in Mice
Published on: May 4, 2015
Heme oxygenase 1 is associated with ischemic preconditioning-induced protection against brain ischemia
Emil Zeynalov1, Zahoor A Shah, Rung-Chi Li
1Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 720 Rutland Ave., Ross 365, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Abstract:
Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) protects brain against ischemic injury by activating specific mechanisms. Our goal was to determine if the inducible heme oxygenase 1 (HO1) is required for such protection. IPC before transient or permanent ischemia reduced cortical infarct volumes by 57.4% and 33.9%, respectively at 48 h in wildtype adult mice. Interestingly, IPC failed to protect the HO1 gene deleted mice against permanent ischemic brain injury. IPC also resulted in a significant increase in HO1 protein levels in the brain and correlated with reduced neurological deficits after permanent and transient brain ischemia. Our study demonstrates that neuroprotective effects of IPC are at least partially mediated via HO1. Elucidating the physiological/cellular role by which HO1 is protective against brain ischemia may aid the development of selective drugs to treat stroke and its associated neurological disorders.
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