The Effects of Citicoline on Cerebrovascular Hemodynamic Status in Ischemic Stroke Patients

Introduction: Some recent studies have shown that citicoline improves clinical symptoms in patients with stroke. Citicoline's mechanism of action in improving the clinical symptoms is not recognized yet. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cerebrovascular hemodynamic status in patients with ischemic stroke treated with citicoline compared with the control group. Methods: In this study, 64 patients (20 male, 44 female) with supratentorial ischemic stroke were included. Patients underwent transcranial and extra cranial ultrasonography within 24 hours of admission and were divided into two equal groups (32 patients per group). One group was treated with citicoline (500 mg/day) and the second group was treated with placebo for one week. Then, patients underwent transcranial and extra cranial ultrasonography again. Data were analyzed by paired t-test and independent t-test. Results: In this study, no significant difference between the groups in terms of age, gender, cardiovascular factors and NIHSS was observed. Peak systolic velocity (PSV) in RCCA, RICA, RVA, LVA, and mean flow velocity (MFV) in RICA and LACA were significantly different between two groups. As there was no significant difference in confounding variables between the two groups, therefore, the difference in PSV and MFV between the groups may be due to citicoline. Conclusion: Prescription of citicoline for treatment of acute ischemic stroke is associated with hemodynamic changes in cerebral arteries. This finding can be one of the citicoline's mechanisms of action in ischemic stroke process.