C19, a C-terminal peptide of chemokine-like factor 1, protects the brain against focal brain ischemia in rats.

There has been accumulating evidence that chemokines play an important role in cerebral ischemia. Chemokines-like factor 1 (CKLF1), as a novel C-C chemokine, is upregulated in cerebral ischemia. In this study we examined the protective effect of C19, a C-terminal peptide of chemokine-like factor 1, in an animal model of cerebral ischemia. Adult rats were anesthetized with chloral hydrate. C19 was given intracerebroventricularly immediately after 60 min middle cerebral artery occlusion. Animals were examined for their neurological function, infarct size and water content at 24h after reperfusion. The result showed that C19 (0.1, 1, 10 or 50 μg) significantly improved neurological function, decreased infarct size and water content in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast, application of C19 (50 μg) showed no effect in normal rats. Taken together, our data suggest that C19 is protective against ischemic brain injury, and may be an ideal peptide drug for the treatment of cerebral ischemia.