Figure 2.
Effect of progesterone (PROG) on blood–brain barrier (BBB) disruption after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) in rats and on the transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER) in endothelial cell monolayers under hypoxia and reperfusion (H/R). (A) Western blot analysis measured the levels of immunoglobulin G (IgG). Combination therapy with tPA plus PROG prevented tPA-associated increase in IgG. (B) Transendothelial electrical resistance was decreased by H/R. The decrease was significantly prevented by pretreatment with 5, 10, and 20 μmol/L PROG. (C) Pretreatment with PROG (with observed maximum protective dose of 20 μmol/L) prevented tPA (20 μg/mL)-associated H/R-induced, reduction in TEER. #P<0.05 versus H/R plus PROG, @P<0.05 versus tPA alone. *P<0.05 versus tPA plus PROG (n=5–6). Data are expressed as means ±s.e.m.