Does losartan prevent cerebral edema?
Department of Pharmacology, University of Ghana Medical School, Accra, Ghana. asiedugyekye@yahoo.co.uk BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to ascertain the effect of Losartan, a non-peptide angiotensin II receptor antagonist used for the treatment of hypertension, on the movement of proteins and fluids across the vascular compartment in ischemic cat brains. MATERIAL/METHODS: The experiments were carried out on anesthetized cats under artificial ventilation and autohemoperfusion of the brain with a stable volume of blood with the help of a resistograph. Cerebral ischemia was induced by a 15-minute arrest of the autohemoperfusion pump, tying various anastomoses in the neck region, and reducing arterial pressure to 40-30 mm Hg by hemorrhage with subsequent reinfusion of the lost blood. RESULTS: In the postischemic period in the cat brain, control experiments showed the onset of metabolic acidosis and an increase in permeability of the brain capillaries to fluids and protein molecule
