Amelioration of ischaemic brain damage by postischaemic treatment with flunarizine.

The effect of flunarizine, a calcium entry blocker, on ischaemic damage was investigated using a new model of forebrain ischaemia. Fasted rats were subjected to nine minutes ischaemia and one week recovery. One group served as control; a second was pretreated orally with flunarizine; a third group received postischaemic flunarizine treatment. Focussing on the hippocampus, an area of high susceptibility to ischaemic damage, we report that flunarizine treatment significantly reduced neuronal necrosis. Importantly, the amelioration of necrosis was also observed when flunarizine was administered 5 min following resumption of cerebral perfusion.