ANTI-ICAM-1 ANTIBODY REDUCES ISCHEMIC CELL-DAMAGE AFTER TRANSIENT MIDDLE CEREBRAL-ARTERY OCCLUSION IN THE RAT

Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is a glycoprotein expressed on endothelial cells that facilitates leukocyte adhesion. To test the hypothesis that reduction of leukocytes in an ischemic lesion reduces ischemic brain damage, we measured the effect of administration of an anti-ICAM-1 monoclonal antibody on ischemic brain damage after transi ent middle cerebral artery occlusion in the rat. ICAM-1 expression inc reased in the ischemic lesion, and the lesion volume was significantly reduced by 41% in the anti-ICAM-1 antibody group compared with the co ntrol group (p < 0.05). Numbers of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) were significantly reduced in the cortices of the anti-ICAM-1 antibod y group compared with the control animals (p < 0.05). Our data indicat e that administration of anti-ICAM-1 antibody results in a significant reduction of ischemic brain damage concomitant with a reduction of PM Ns in the lesion after transient focal cerebral ischemia in the rat.