Background: There is no effective axon regeneration in adult mammalians.
Objective: To investigate the effects of dual-acid cyclic adenosine monophosphate (db-cAMP) on the axon regeneration, motor function recovery and RhoA signal pathway in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion rats, and to explore the possible clinical application and mechanism.
Materials and methods: Middle cerebral artery ischemia-reperfusion model was established by nylon monofilament occlusion method in 105 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Semi-quantitative Western blot analysis was used to assess protein expression level of growth-associated protein-43 (GAP-43) and RhoA. Montoya staircase test score was used to test the motor function of affected forelimb.
Results: Compared to the ischemia group, the staircase test score in the db-cAMP group was increased significantly at 30-day (P < 0.05), and GAP-43 protein expression in the db-cAMP group was enhanced significantly at 7-day and 14-day (P < 0.05), and RhoA protein expression in the db-cAMP group was decreased significantly between 24 h to 14-day (P < 0.01).
Conclusion: These results show that db-cAMP can promote axon regeneration and the recovery of motor function by inhibiting RhoA signal pathway.