Abstract

ABSTRACTEndorphins and narcotics have been implicated in the exacerbation of neurologic deficits after stroke. To test the theory that narcotic antagonists might offer an improvement in neurologic sequelae following stroke, we administered various doses of naloxone intraperitoneally to 50 adult gerbils 45 minutes after carotid artery transsection. Low-dose naloxone therapy (1.0 to 2.5 mg/kg) was more effective in preventing death than either control (sterile saline) or high-dose naloxone (10 mg/kg). A naloxone dose of 1.0 or 2.5 mg/kg offered a significant improvement in mortality over both the control and the high-dose therapy (P = .026). It appears that an appropriate dose of naloxone (1.0 to 2.5 mg/kg), given early enough to alter outcome, offers an improved survival in the gerbil stroke model. This finding obviously has significant implications for the use of narcotic antagonists in human beings with stroke.