The effects of fasudil on the permeability of the rat blood-brain barrier and blood-spinal cord barrier following experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

  • J Neuroimmunol. 2011 Oct 28;239(1-2):61-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2011.08.015.
X N Huang  1 ,  J Fu ,  W Z Wang
Affiliations
  • 1. Department of Neurology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.
PMID: 21978848 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2011.08.015
Abstract

Dysfunction of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) is a primary characteristic of multiple sclerosis (MS). We evaluated the protective effects of fasudil, a selective ROCK Inhibitor, in a model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) that was induced by guinea-pig spinal cord. In addition, we studied the effects of fasudil on BBB and BSCB permeability. We found that fasudil partly alleviated EAE-dependent damage by decreasing BBB and BSCB permeability. These results provide rationale for the development of selective inhibitors of Rho kinase as a novel therapy for MS.

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