A combined treatment with tacrolimus (FK506) and recombinant tissue plasminogen activator for thrombotic focal cerebral ischemia in rats: increased neuroprotective efficacy and extended therapeutic time window.

The authors evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of tacrolimus (FK506), administered alone or in combination with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), on brain infarction following thrombotic middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion. Thrombotic occlusion of the MCA was induced by a photochemical reaction between rose bengal and green light in Sprague-Dawley rats, and the volume of ischemic brain damage was determined 24 hours later. Intravenous administration of tacrolimus or t-PA dose-dependently reduced the volume of ischemic brain infarction, whether administered immediately or 1 hour after MCA occlusion.