Normobaric hyperoxia extends the reperfusion window in focal cerebral ischemia.

A major limitation in thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke is the restricted time window for safe and effective therapy. Any method that can extend the reperfusion time window would be important. In this study, we show that normobaric hyperoxia extends the time window for effective reperfusion from 1 to 3 hours in rats subjected to focal cerebral ischemia. Normobaric hyperoxia did not increase cellular markers of superoxide generation or brain levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9. Normobaric hyperoxia may be a clinically feasible adjunct method for significantly increasing the time window for effective thrombolytic therapy in acute ischemic stroke.