Potassium aspartate attenuates apoptotic cell death after focal cerebral ischemia in rats

Abstract Potassium aspartate (PA), as an electrolyte supplement, is used widely in clinical practice. To test the idea that high extracellular K + might attenuate neuronal apoptosis, male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 2 h of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) and 22 h of reperfusion. Vehicle or PA was administrated intraperitoneally after 1 h MCAo. The neurological deficit and dose-responses of PA to MCAo were examined. Brain ATP and lactic acid levels, caspase-3 and caspase-9 activities and the apoptotic cell death were evaluated as well as western blot analysis for cytochrome c (cyt c) release and Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) cleaved. Our results show that PA treatment at the dose of 62.5 mg/kg significantly improved neurological deficits ( P P P P P P