Cerebrovascular, biochemical, and cytoprotective effects of isradipine in laboratory animals.

Dose-response curves of isradipine for blood pressure, total peripheral conductance, and regional cerebral conductances and blood flows were obtained in anesthetized cats and rabbits using the microsphere method. Cerebrovascular effects occurred at lower doses than systemic effects, and the effective duration was longer in the brain than in the periphery. In a rat model of embolic stroke (unilateral occlusion of the middle cerebral artery), isradipine has been shown to have cytoprotective efficacy (Sauter A, Rudin M: Stroke 1986; 17: 1228-1234; Rudin M, Sauter A, Wiederhold K-H: Therapie 1987; 42: 477-481; Sauter A, Rudin M, Wiederhold K-H: Neurochem Pathol 1989 [in press]).