[Protective effect of suloctidil against cerebral hypoxia (author's transl)]

The protective effect of suloctidil [MY 103, erythro-1-(4-isopropylthiophenyl)-2-n-octylaminopropanol] against cerebral hypoxia was investigated in terms of survival time under normobaric hypoxia (96% N2 + 4% O2 gas mixture) in mice and evoked potential in prepyriform cortex of guinea pig in vitro. In a hypoxic condition, the pretreatment with MY 103 (3.0-12.5 mg/kg, i.p.) resulted in a marked and dose-dependent prolongation of survival time of mice without any adverse effect. The prolongation of survival time was statistically significant at doses over 6.3 mg/kg. The amplitude of evoked potential to electrical stimulation of olfactory tract in the brain slice was consistently and reversibly suppressed by the perfusion with low oxygen Ringer's solution containing about 45% O2 or normal Ringer's solution. This amplitude reduction after 6 minutes exposure to hypoxic perfusate, was consistently reproducible in the same preparation. Preincubation of brain slices in normal Ringer's solution containing 10(-7)-10(-6) g/ml MY 103 for 15 min, however, effectively prevented the hypoxic reduction of the amplitude of evoked potentials to 30-50% of the control experiments. The above data indicate that MY 103 exerts its anti-anoxic effect presumably through modified metabolic processes such as active oxygen or glucose uptake by the brain.