Neuroprotective Benefit in a Neurorestorative Treatment of Embolic Stroke with EPO in Rats Detected by MRI

Guangliang Ding¹, Quan Jiang¹, Lian Li¹, Li Zhang¹, Ying Wang¹, Zhenggang Zhang¹, Swayamprava Panda¹, qingjiang Li¹, James R. Ewing¹, Michael Chopp^1,2

Chronic erythropoietin (EPO) treatment of stroke in rats exhibited both neuroprotective and neurorestorative benefits. Dynamic T2WI images demonstrated that the expansion of ventricle in the ipsilateral hemisphere was restrained in EPO-treated rats. Ventricular volume ratios (ipsilateral vs contralateral) 6 weeks after stroke were 1.99 ± 0.15 for the treated rats and 2.35 ± 0.26 for the controls (p < 0.01). Volume of the cerebral parenchyma decreases when the ventricle expands, which indicates loss of cerebral tissue. Our results demonstrate that chronic EPO treatment of embolic stroke reduced the expansion of ventricular volume that ultimately protects against loss of cerebral tissue.