OBJECTIVE This study aims to investigate the neuroprotective effect of Rho kinase inhibitor fasudil hydrochloride in ischemia/reperfusion injury N2a neuron. METHODS In vitro, N2a cells induced by ischemia and ischemia-reperfusion were treated with fasudil hydrochloride, cell damage was analyzed by MTT. On the other hand, the cytoskeleton of N2a cells was scanned through immunofluorescence tec...

Inhibition of Rho kinase (ROCK) ameliorates many cardiovascular dysfunctions. The aim of the current study is to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of fasudil, a selective ROCK inhibitor, on high cholesterol diet-induced hypercholesterolemic rats and its possible mechanisms. In hypercholesterolemic rats, we found the serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholest...

Renal afferent arterioles (AFF) regulate glomerular capillary pressure through two main mechanisms: the myogenic response (MYO) and tubuloglomerular feedback (TGF). Because Rho-kinase and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) are established factors that modulate vascular tone, we examined the role of these factors in pressure-induced AFF tone in Wistar-Kyoto rats and in spontaneously hypertensive rats (...

OBJECTIVES We sought to determine whether a potent Rho-kinase inhibitor fasudil prevents the occurrence of myocardial ischemia in patients with microvascular angina attributable to coronary microvascular spasm. BACKGROUND Effective treatment of patients with angina who have normal coronary arteriograms (microvascular angina) has not yet been established. Rho-kinase-mediated calcium sensitizat...

Rho-kinase (ROK), downstream of the mevalonate pathway, is detrimental to vessels, and suppressing its activity is a target for the treatment of human disease such as coronary artery disease and pulmonary hypertension. Recent studies have shown that ROK has a crucial role in bone metabolism. However, the role of ROK in stromal cells is still unclear. The present study was undertaken to investig...

OBJECTIVE Leukocyte adhesion in retinal microvasuculature substantially contributes to diabetic retinopathy. Involvement of the Rho/Rho kinase (ROCK) pathway in diabetic microvasculopathy and therapeutic potential of fasudil, a selective ROCK inhibitor, are investigated. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Localization of RhoA/ROCK and Rho activity were examined in retinal tissues of rats. Impact of ...

This study sought to develop a liposomal delivery system of fasudil--an investigational drug for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)--that will preferentially accumulate in the PAH lungs. Liposomal fasudil was prepared by film-hydration method, and the drug was encapsulated by active loading. The liposome surface was coated with a targeting moiety, CARSKNKDC, a cyclic peptide...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of fasudil, a Rho-kinase inhibitor, on chronic ischemia-related bladder dysfunction. MATERIALS AND METHODS Male Sprague-Dawley rats (16 weeks old) were divided into control, chronic bladder ischemia (CBI), and CBI with fasudil treatment (CBI-Fa) groups. The CBI and CBI-Fa groups underwent balloon endothelial injury of bilateral iliac arteries and received a...

Using a cellular approach, the present study examined whether fasudil and active metabolite hydroxyfasudil, Rho-kinase inhibitors, exert a direct protective effect on endothelin-induced cardiac myocyte hypertrophy in vitro. Treatment with endothelin (10nM) caused significant hypertrophy of cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes by a 21.2% increase in cell surface area. Fasudil (1-10 μM) and hydro...

We studied the role of fasudil, a selective Rho-kinase inhibitor, in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Both parenteral and oral administration of fasudil prevented the development of EAE induced by proteolipid protein (PLP) p139-151 in SJL/J mice. Specific proliferation of lymphocytes to PLP was significantly reduced, together with a downregulation of interleukin (IL)-17 and a ma...