Indomethacin, prostacyclin, and heparin improve postischemic cerebral blood flow without affecting early postischemic granulocyte accumulation.

Six anesthetized dogs treated with indomethacin, prostacyclin (PGI2), and heparin were compared with 7 anesthetized controls (ischemia without treatment) to determine whether cyclooxygenase inhibition would lead to enhanced granulocyte accumulation because of preferential formation of lipoxygenase products. Cortical somatosensory evoked response, [14C]iodoantipyrine autoradiographic blood flow, and 111In-labelled granulocyte accumulation were compared 4 hours after a 60-minute exposure to multifocal brain ischemia. Treatment with indomethacin, PGI2, and heparin eliminated neuron-disabling brain blood flows without altering early postischemic granulocyte accumulation. Granulocyte accumulation after 4 hours of reperfusion was not significantly different in control and treated dogs. The final amplitude of the cortical somatosensory evoked response in the treated group averaged 38.0 +/- 13.6% (mean +/- SEM) of the corresponding baseline value compared with 21.0 +/- 4.6% in the control group, but this difference was not significant.