Dose-dependent and long-term cerebroprotective effects of intranasal delivery of progesterone after ischemic stroke in male mice

Abstract Intranasal administration is emerging as a very promising route to deliver therapeutics to the brain. We have recently shown that the intranasal delivery of progesterone at 8 mg/kg is neuroprotective after stroke in male mice. To explore the translational potential of intranasal progesterone treatment, we performed a dose-response study and analyzed outcomes at 48 h after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). The effects on functional outcomes at long-term were examined by using the optimal dose. In the first experiment, male C57BL/6JRj mice were treated with progesterone at 8, 16 or 24 mg/kg, or with placebo at 1, 6 and 24 h post-MCAO. Our results show that the dose of 8 mg/kg was optimal in counteracting the early histopathological impairments as well as in improving functional recovery. Steroid profiling in plasma showed that the dose of 8 mg/kg is the one that leads to sustained high levels of progesterone and its neuroactive metabolites. In the second experiment, the dose of 8 mg/kg was used and analyzes were performed at 2, 7 and 21 days post-MCAO. Progesterone increased survival, glycemia and body weight. Furthermore, progesterone decreased neurological deficits and improved performances of mice on the rotarod and pole as early as 2 days and up to 21 days post-MCAO. These findings show that intranasal administration of progesterone has a significant translational potential as a cerebroprotective treatment after stroke that can be effective to reduce mortality, to limit tissue and cell damage at the acute phase; and to confer a long-term functional recovery.