Facilitation of recovery from ischemic brain damage in rabbits by polymeric prostaglandin PGBx, a mitochondrial protective agent.

Administration of polymeric prostaglandin PGBx to rabbits after a 20-minute period of almost total obstruction of blood flow to the brain resulted in marked improvement of recovery from brain damage as measured by recovery of brain function. This beneficial effect of PGBx on recovery from acute ischemic tissue damage, analogous to that observed in cardiac tissue of monkeys, may be due to the positive effect of PGBx on phosphorylation in damaged mitochondria as observed previously in vitro. A convenient surgical technique for producing reversible cerebral ischemia in rabbits was developed for and used in this pharmacological study.