Role of cilnidipine on quantification of apoptotic cells in the brain of N-nitro-L-Arginine Methyl Ester (L-NAME) induced hypertensive rats

Abstract

Background: Hypertension can lead to myocardial infarction, stroke, renal failure, and death if not detected and treated appropriately. It has also been shown that modulation of nitric oxide (NO) availability is an important determinant of ischemic stroke risk. Cerebral ischemia activates a variety of neuronal cell death mechanisms ultimately lead to cerebral infarction. One of such important mechanism is apoptosis. Objectives: To know the pattern of apoptotic cell distribution in the cerebral cortex before & after cilnidipine treatment in Nitric Oxide Synthase (NOS) inhibitor-induced hypertensive rats. Methods: Male Albino Wister rats were 24 in number & were divided into four groups. Group 1 was control , group 2 was treated with Cilnidipine, group 3 received N -nitro-L-Arginine Methyl Ester (L-NAME) (NOS-3) inhibitor & in group 4 both L-NAME and cilnidipine were administered for 28 days. Blood pressure was measured on first & on 28th day & thrice during intervention days. The rats were sacrificed. Brains were isolated quickly fixed in 10% Neutral buffer formalin (NBF) for 2weeks. On histopathology the number of apoptotic bodies were calculated. Results: L-NAME induced hypertensive rats show more apoptotic cells as compare to control. After treating with cilnidipine rat brain showed the reduced number of apoptosis index which was accounting for P-value of <0.05. Conclusion: Cilnidipine which is a dual-type of calcium channel antagonist observed to be effective in preventing changes due to apoptosis thus can be used as a drug of choice in hypertension with cerebral ischaemia.

Keywords

• cilnidipine
• l-name
• apoptosis
• brain
• hypertension