Stroke is a devastating disease that afflicts millions of people each year worldwide. Ischemic stroke, which accounts for ~88% of cases, occurs when blood supply to the brain is decreased, often because of thromboembolism or atherosclerotic occlusion. This deprives the brain of oxygen and nutrients, causing immediate, irreversible necrosis within the core of the ischemic area, but more delayed and potentially reversible neuronal damage in the surrounding brain tissue, the penumbra. The only currently approved therapies for ischemic stroke, the thrombolytic agent recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) and the endovascular clot retrieval/destruction processes, are aimed at restoring blood flow to the infarcted area, but are only available for a minority of patients and are not able in most cases to completely restore neurological deficits. Consequently, there remains a need for agents that will protect neurones against death following ischemic stroke. Here, we evaluate angiotensin II (Ang II) type 2 (AT2) receptor agonists as a possible therapeutic target for this disease. We first provide an overview of stroke epidemiology, pathophysiology, and currently approved therapies. We next review the large amount of preclinical evidence, accumulated over the past decade and a half, which indicates that AT2 receptor agonists exert significant neuroprotective effects in various animal models, and discuss the potential mechanisms involved. Finally, after discussing the challenges of delivering blood-brain barrier (BBB) impermeable AT2 receptor agonists to the infarcted areas of the brain, we summarize the evidence for and against the development of these agents as a promising therapeutic strategy for ischemic stroke.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
2
7%
Neuroscience
2
7%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences
1
3%
Other
4
14%
Unknown
13
45%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 17 June 2018.
All research outputs
#27,422,692
of 34,040,673 outputs
Outputs from Clinical Science
#2,788
of 3,379 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#289,308
of 374,658 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Clinical Science
#22
of 29 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,040,673 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 16th percentile – i.e., 16% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,379 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.8. This one is in the 14th percentile – i.e., 14% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 29 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 17th percentile – i.e., 17% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
