Influence of monosialoganglioside inner ester on neurologic recovery after global cerebral ischemia in monkeys.

We assessed the consequences of transitory global cerebral ischemia and the influence of monosialoganglioside inner ester (AGF 2) treatment on neurologic outcome, cerebral blood flow, and cerebral metabolic rate in monkeys over 48 hours. Global cerebral ischemia was produced by a cervical tourniquet and a lowering of blood pressure to 6.65 kPa; recirculation followed after 30 minutes. AGF 2 (30 mg/kg) was administered intravenously immediately after initiation of recirculation and intramuscularly twice a day for 48 hours. Our results show that treatment with AGF 2 significantly accelerated the rate of neurologic recovery. Improvement was evident 5 hours after ischemia; full neurologic recovery was observed in half of the monkeys 48 hours after ischemia. This recovery was associated with a less severe reduction in cerebral blood flow without a concomitant increase in the cerebral metabolic rate.