Protective effect of exogenous administration of alpha-tocopherol in middle cerebral artery occlusion model of cerebral ischemia in rats.

Oxidative stress due to increased free radical generation and depletion of endogenous antioxidants have been implicated in ischemia-reperfusion-induced neuronal injury. The present study was carried out to study the effect of acute administration of alpha-tocopherol in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion model of stroke in rats. Rats were anesthetized using chloral hydrate (400 mg/kg i.p.) and subjected to 2 h of transient MCA occlusion. alpha-Tocopherol was administered at the dose of 125 and 250 mg/kg orally 1 h prior to the occlusion of MCA. Motor performance test (grip test, foot fault test, rotarod performance test, spontaneous locomotor activity), markers of oxidative stress and 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride staining were carried out 24 h after MCA occlusion. A vehicle-treated group was run parallel. It was observed that alpha-tocopherol at the dose of 125 mg/kg neither improved neurologic deficit, nor decreased the raised level of oxidative stress markers in comparison with the MCA-occluded rats. However, higher dose of alpha-tocopherol (250 mg/kg p.o.) afforded significant protection as evident by increase in motor performance tests and a decrease in the volume of infarction. The raised levels of malondialdehyde after MCA occlusion were also significantly attenuated. The results demonstrate that exogenous administration of alpha-tocopherol is able to reduce the neuronal damage caused during ischemia-reperfusion, which can be attributed to its antioxidant activity.