Transcranial Doppler and cerebral augmentation in acute ischemic stroke.

Background: Collateral flow augmentation using partial aortic occlusion may improve cerebral perfusion in acute stroke. We assessed the effect of partial aortic occlusion on arterial flow velocities of acute stroke patients.

Methods: Patients with neurological deficits following thrombolysis were treated with partial aortic occlusion.

Endothelial progenitor cells in patients with acute cerebrovascular ischemia.

Objective: Statins have been shown to increase endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in patients with cardiovascular disease. However, there is no similar study that has been done on the patients recovering from cerebrovascular disease. We present the largest prospective study of statin therapy on EPC levels of patients recovering from stroke.

Homocysteine reduces endothelial progenitor cells in stroke patients through apoptosis.

Homocysteine (Hcy) is a risk factor for vascular dysfunction. High levels of Hcy may result in vascular injury accelerating atherosclerosis leading to ischemia. After ischemia, endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) migrate from bone marrow to repair damaged sites either through direct incorporation of EPCs or by repopulating mature endothelial cells.

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol regulates endothelial progenitor cells by increasing eNOS and preventing apoptosis.

Objective: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are implicated as an important marker of endothelial function and cardiovascular risk. In the present study, we examined whether high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol plays a role in the peripheral EPC levels and its underlying mechanisms in the HDL cholesterol-induced elevation of EPCs.

Methods: For the clinical study, vascular risk factors and blood markers were measured and EPC colony forming units were counted after 7 days of culture.