Effect of human recombinant prourokinase(rhpro-UK) on thromboembolic stroke in rats

We evaluated the efficacy and safety of human recombinant prourokinase (rhpro-UK) on thromboembolic stroke in rats. 60 rats with thromboembolic stroke were divided into 6 groups (n = 10). The model group was given saline, the reagent groups were given rhpro-UK (5, 10, 20 x 10(4) U/kg), and positive control groups were given urokinase (UK) 10 x 10(4) U/kg and recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) 9 mg/kg through intravenous infusion at 1.5 h after embolism. And other 10 rats without occluded by autologous blood clots as the sham group were given saline. At 6 h after treatment, neurological deficit score and Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI) including T1WI and T2WI sequence scanning were measured. At 24 h after treatment, the brain was cut for 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining and aspectrophotometric assay to measure the infarct area and intracerebral hemorrhage after neurological deficit detection. rhpro-UK (5, 10, 20 x 104 U/kg) improved neurological disorder by 39.1 +/- 19.7% (n = 10, P > 0.05), 65.2 +/- 14.2% (n = 10, P < 0.01) and 65.2 +/- 14.2% (n = 10, P < 0.01) maximally; decreased brain lesion volume by 36.7 +/- 34.8% (n = 10, P< 0.05), 77.6 +/- 7.7% (n = 10, P < 0.01) and 80.5 +/- 6.9% (n = 10, P < 0.01); decreased infarction area by 38.2 +/- 24.0% (n = 10, P < 0.01), 73.9 +/- 5.2% (n = 10, P < 0.001) and 79.7 +/- 4.0% (n = 10, P < 0.001) respectively, and there were no statistics difference between rhpro-UK (5, 10, 20 x 104 U/kg) and each positive groups at intracerebral hemorrhage (P > 0.05). Rhpro-UK improved the damaged neural function, decreased the extent of the disease and did not raise bleeding, had protective effects for cerebral ischemia in rats.