AT-877, A CA2-CEREBRAL ARTERY-OCCLUSION( ANTAGONIST, FAILS TO REDUCE INFARCT SIZE FOLLOWING RAT MIDDLE)

We investigated the effects of AT-877, a Ca2+ antagonist, on rat middl e-cerebral artery occlusion. All rats had 6-h ischemia, and treated an imals received either 3 or 10 mg/kg AT-877 s.c. just after the occlusi on. Control animals received an equal volume of the vehicle. Prior to sacrifice, significant changes in the decrease of blood pressure and t he increase of plasma glucose were observed in the treated rats. Altho ugh the infarct size tended to decrease, this decrease was not signifi cant. Only when the blood pressure- or plasma glucose-matched subgroup s were compared, the infarct volume decreased significantly in the dru g-treated animals. Thus, AT-877 failed to reduce ischemic brain damage unless the blood pressure or plasma glucose were controlled.