Figure 6. Meclizine is neuroprotective in a mouse model of stroke.

(a) Protocol for the murine model of stroke. Male C57BL/6 mice were treated with two intraperitoneal injections of 100 mg/kg meclizine, 20 mg/kg pyrilamine and 0.5 mg/kg scopolamine or vehicle at 17 and 3 hours prior to 1 hour transient middle cerebral artery occlusion followed by 24 hours of reperfusion.

(b) Cerebral blood flow (CBF) measured at baseline and after common carotid and middle cerebral artery occlusion (CCAO and MCAO, respectively) upon treatment with meclizine, scopolamine, pyrilamine or vehicle. Data represent mean ± SD.

(c) Infarct volume measured on TTC-stained 1 mm thick coronal slices obtained from mice treated with meclizine, scopolamine, pyrilamine or vehicle. Data points refer to independent experiments, and the solid line represents their mean. (*P<0.05 vs. vehicle and scopolamine, P<0.01 vs. pyrilamine; one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparison test)

(d) Representative images of TTC-stained 1 mm thick coronal brain sections (slice 1-10).

(e) Infarct area in the rostrocaudal extent of the brain (slice 1-10) upon treatment with meclizine, scopolamine, pyrilamine or vehicle. Data points represent the mean area of infarction in individual slice levels ± SD in mm² (n=14 for vehicle, n=8 for meclizine, n=8 for pyrilamine, n=5 for scopolamine, *P<0.05).