Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
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Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. · May 2003
Tauroursodeoxycholic acid reduces apoptosis and protects against neurological injury after acute hemorrhagic stroke in rats.
Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA), an endogenous bile acid, modulates cell death by interrupting classic pathways of apoptosis. Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a devastating acute neurological disorder, without effective treatment, in which a significant loss of neuronal cells is thought to occur by apoptosis. In this study, we evaluated whether TUDCA can reduce brain injury and improve neurological function after ICH in rats. ⋯ In addition to its protective action at the mitochondrial membrane, TUDCA also activated the Akt-1protein kinase Balpha survival pathway and induced Bad phosphorylation at Ser-136. In conclusion, reduction of brain injury underlies the wide-range neuroprotective effects of TUDCA after ICH. Thus, given its clinical safety, TUDCA may provide a potentially useful treatment in patients with hemorrhagic stroke and perhaps other acute brain injuries associated with cell death by apoptosis.