Host: The Japanese Society of Toxicology
Name : The 51st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Toxicology
Date : July 03, 2024 - July 05, 2024
Ischemic stroke is the most common type of stroke, one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Even if patients survive the ischemic stroke, a decline in QOL due to sequelae such as motor and sensory dysfunction is a serious problem. At present, functional recovery after stroke is mainly left to rehabilitation, but the effect is not sufficient. Our research focuses on microglia (MG), immune cells of the brain involving in the stroke sequelae aggravation and functional recovery. M1-MG, a type of activated MG, exacerbate nerve injury, while M2-MG, another type of activated MG, induce neuroprotection. This indicates that controlling the activated MG phenotype, suppressing M1-MG and enhancing M2-MG, is an effective therapeutic strategy for stroke sequelae. Recently, it has been reported that animal-assisted therapy, using dogs for rehabilitation, promotes functional recovery after stroke, and that contact with dogs increases blood oxytocin (OXT) levels in humans. We found that nasal administration of OXT improved the survival rate and sensorimotor dysfunction in a mouse model of ischemia. We also found that in the model, OXT suppressed the accumulation of activated MG observed in and around the infarct region, and that the activated MG phenotype became predominantly M2-MG by OXT. These results suggest that OXT can solve two major problems associated with ischemic stroke: improving survival rates and sequelae. In this symposium, we will provide an overview of the potential of OXT as a therapeutic agent for stroke sequelae, focusing on its effects on activated MG.