Effects of naftidrofuryl oxalate, a 5-HT2 antagonist, on neuronal damage and local cerebral blood flow following transient cerebral ischemia in gerbils.

Effects of naftidrofuryl oxalate (naftidrofuryl), a 5-HT2 antagonist, on neuronal damage and local cerebral blood flow was examined in a gerbil model of transient forebrain ischemia. Effect of ketanserin tartrate (ketanserin), another 5-HT2 antagonist, on neuronal damage was also examined. Pretreatment with naftidrofuryl or ketanserin prevented hippocampal CA1 neuronal loss after 5 min of transient ischemia. Naftidrofuryl did not improve hippocampal blood flow during and 1 h after transient ischemia determined by [14C]iodoantipyrine autoradiography but increased blood flow in the caudate-putamen 1 h after transient ischemia. The results show that: (1) the 5-HT2 antagonists protect against hippocampal CA1 neuronal damage; and (2) the protective effect of naftidrofuryl may not be caused by a hemodynamic mechanism but by a direct inhibitory neuromodulation via 5-HT2 antagonistic action.