Intracerebral infusion of a second-generation ciliary neurotrophic factor reduces neuronal loss in rat striatum following experimental intracerebral hemorrhage

Neuronal and glial cell death in the striatum of a rat model of collagenase -induced intracerebral hemorrhage begins at 1 day and continues for at leas t 3 weeks. We hypothesized that administration of a neurotrophic agent woul d reduce neuronal loss in this experimental model. Because it has been show n to protect striatal neurons against excitotoxic injury, a second-generati on ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) (AXOKINE (R)) was administered by con tinuous intracerebral infusion (2 mug/day) beginning 28 h after hemorrhage and continuing for 2 weeks. Magnetic resonance imaging showed that the hema toma size was comparable in control and treated rats prior to treatment. Co unts of medium-sized striatal neurons within 320 mum of the hematoma 8 week s after the hemorrhage revealed a slight but statistically significant bene fit with a 42.5% loss in treated rats compared to 51.7% loss in controls. T he results suggest that AXOKINE might be protective of striatal neurons in the vicinity of a hemorrhagic lesion. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All ri ghts reserved.