THE NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFICACY OF MK-801 IN FOCAL CEREBRAL-ISCHEMIA VARIES WITH RAT STRAIN AND VENDOR

The present study was designed to evaluate whether the neuroprotective efficacy of MK-801 in focal cerebral ischemia was dependent on strain and/or vendor differences. MK-801 (0.12 mg/kg i.v. bolus followed by 0.108 mg/kg/h infusion or 0.60 mg/kg i.v. bolus followed by 0.540 mg/k g/h infusion) or saline was administered just after intraluminal middl e cerebral artery occlusion. Administration of 0.540 mg/kg/h MK-801 pr ovided strain/line-dependent neuroprotection in the following rank ord er: Simonsen Laboratories Sprague-Dawley rats >Simonsen Laboratories W istar rats >Taconic Laboratories Sprague-Dawley rats. After 0.108 mg/k g/h MK-801 treatment, Simonsen Laboratories Wistar rats were the only strain/line that were significantly neuroprotected. These results indi cate that the neuroprotective effect of an experimental drug may be in fluenced by rat strain and vendor differences.