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Updated: Apr 22, 2026
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Intra-Arterial Delivery of Neural Stem Cells to the Rat and Mouse Brain: Application to Cerebral Ischemia
Published on: June 26, 2020
9.9K
Drug delivery to the ischemic brain.
Brandon J Thompson1, Patrick T Ronaldson2
1Department of Physiology, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
Advances in Pharmacology (San Diego, Calif.)
|October 14, 2014
Summary
Cerebral ischemia, or stroke, requires new treatments beyond current options. Statins and advanced drug delivery systems show promise for protecting brain tissue and blood-brain barrier integrity during stroke recovery.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Pharmacology
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Cerebral ischemia, caused by interrupted blood flow, triggers damaging molecular events and blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption, leading to stroke.
- Current treatments like recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) have limitations, necessitating novel therapeutic strategies for ischemic stroke.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review molecular pathways involved in cerebral ischemia and reperfusion injury.
- To explore novel drug delivery approaches for treating ischemic stroke, focusing on protecting brain tissue and BBB integrity.
Main Methods:
- Review of molecular mechanisms underlying cerebral ischemia and reperfusion.
- Discussion of endogenous drug uptake transporters (e.g., organic anion transporting polypeptides) and nanotechnology-based carriers for central nervous system (CNS) drug delivery.
Main Results:
- Ischemia induces a cascade of cellular damage, including excitotoxicity and oxidative stress.
- BBB disruption contributes to vasogenic edema and stroke mortality.
- Statins represent a potential therapeutic class for neural cell rescue.
Conclusions:
- There is a critical need for improved therapeutic strategies to mitigate damage following ischemic stroke.
- Optimizing drug delivery to the CNS, utilizing transporters and nanotechnology, is key to enhancing treatment efficacy for cerebral ischemia.
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