Insulin-Like Growth Factor (IGF)-I Modulates Endothelial Blood-Brain Barrier Function in Ischemic Middle-Aged Female Rats.

ABSTRACT: In comparison with young females, middle-aged female rats sustain greater cerebral infarction and worse functional recovery after stroke. These poorer stroke outcomes in middle-aged females are associated with an age-related reduction in IGF-I levels. Poststroke IGF-I treatment decreases infarct volume in older females and lowers the expression of cytokines in the ischemic hemisphere. IGF-I also reduces transfer of Evans blue dye to the brain, suggesting that this peptide may also promote blood-brain barrier function. To test the hypothesis that IGF-I may act at the blood-brain barrier in ischemic stroke, 2 approaches were used. In the first approach, middle-aged female rats were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion and treated with IGF-I after reperfusion. Mononuclear cells from

SUBMITTER: Bake S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4701884 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature