Baris Aslanoglu; Seval Kaya; Sezer Onur Gunara; Burak Atlas; Ugur Seker; Baris Can Guzel & Yahya Turan

In this study we aimed to examine the effect of novel vasodilatory drug Riociguat co-administration along resveratrol to recover neurodegeneration in experimental stroke injury. For that purpose, thirty-five adult female rats were divided into five groups (Control, MCAO, MCAO + R, MCAO + BAY, MCAO + C) of seven animals in each. Animals in Control group did not expose to any application during the experiment and sacrificed at the end of the study. Rats in the rest groups exposed to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) induced ischemic stroke. MCAO + R group received 30 mg/kg resveratrol, and MCAO + BAY group received 10 mg/kg Riociguat. The MCAO + C group received both drugs simultaneously. The drugs were administered just before the reperfusion, and the additional doses were administered 24h, and 48h hours of reperfusion. All animals in this study were sacrificed at the 72nd hour of experiment. Total brains were received for analysis. Results of this experiment indicated that MCAO led to severe injury in cerebral structure. Bax, IL-6 and IL-1ß tissue levels were up-regulated, but anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 immunoexpression was suppressed (p<0.05). In resveratrol and Riociguat treated animals, the neurodegenerations and apoptosis and inflammation associated protein expressions were improved compared to MCAO group, but the most success was obtained in combined treatment exposed animals in MCAO + C group. This study indicated that the novel soluble guanylate stimulator Riociguat is not only a potent neuroprotective drug in MCAO induced stroke, but also synergistic administration of Riociguat along with resveratrol have potential to increase the neuroprotective effect of resveratrol in experimental cerebral stroke exposed rats.

KEY WORDS: Stroke; Resveratrol; Riociguat; Apoptosis; Inflammation.

ASLANOGLU, B.; KAYA, S.; GUNARA, S.O.; ATLAS, B.; SEKER, U.; GUZEL, B.C. & TURAN, Y. Neuroprotective potential of the novel soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator the Riociguat alone or in a combination manner with resveratrol in experimental stroke model in rats. Int. J. Morphol., 42(4):984-990, 2024.