Title:Pathophysiology of Ischemic Stroke: Role of Oxidative Stress
Volume: 26
Issue: 34
Author(s): Sofía Orellana-Urzúa, Ignacio Rojas, Lucas Líbano and Ramón Rodrigo*
Affiliation:
- Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology Program, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Independencia 1027, Santiago,Chile
Keywords:
Ischemia-reperfusion, oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species, ischemic stroke, haemorrhagic stroke, antioxidant.
Abstract: Stroke is the second leading cause of mortality and the major cause of adult physical disability worldwide.
The currently available treatment to recanalize the blood flow in acute ischemic stroke is intravenous administration
of tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) and endovascular treatment. Nevertheless, those treatments
have the disadvantage that reperfusion leads to a highly harmful reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, generating
oxidative stress (OS), which is responsible for most of the ischemia-reperfusion injury and thus causing
brain tissue damage. In addition, OS can lead brain cells to apoptosis, autophagy and necrosis. The aims of this
review are to provide an updated overview of the role of OS in brain IRI, providing some bases for therapeutic
interventions based on counteracting the OS-related mechanism of injury and thus suggesting novel possible
strategies in the prevention of IRI after stroke.