News Release

Regulating blood supply to limbs improves stroke recovery

Noninvasive technique could treat wide variety of stroke patients

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Society for Neuroscience

Regulating Blood Supply to Limbs Improves Stroke Recovery

image: Remote ischemic limb conditioning reduces swelling and lesion size (bottom). view more 

Credit: Yang et al., <em>JNeurosci</em> 2019

Cutting off and then restoring blood supply to a limb following a stroke reduces tissue damage and swelling and improves functional recovery, according to a new study in mice published in JNeurosci. The simple, noninvasive technique could be developed into a treatment for stroke patients of varying severity.

Remote ischemic limb conditioning utilizes a blood pressure cuff and has been shown to aide in stroke recovery, potentially by affecting monocytes. Monocytes are a type of white blood cell involved in immune responses that can either reduce or promote inflammation, which is necessary in the tissue recovery process.

Sunghee Cho and colleagues at Burke Neurological Institute treated mice that experienced a stroke with remote ischemic limb conditioning and tested the monocyte levels in their blood. The research team found that the ratio of inflammatory to non-inflammatory monocytes circulating in the blood increased, resulting in more available inflammatory cells.

Surprisingly, the increase in circulating inflammatory cells was associated with reduced brain tissue damage and swelling and improved motor function. The symptoms improved for both moderate and severe strokes, indicating the potential for wide application as a stroke treatment.

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Manuscript title: Remote Post-Ischemic Conditioning Promotes Stroke Recovery by Shifting Circulating Monocytes to CCR2+ Pro-Inflammatory Subset

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About JNeurosci

JNeurosci, the Society for Neuroscience's first journal, was launched in 1981 as a means to communicate the findings of the highest quality neuroscience research to the growing field. Today, the journal remains committed to publishing cutting-edge neuroscience that will have an immediate and lasting scientific impact, while responding to authors' changing publishing needs, representing breadth of the field and diversity in authorship.

About The Society for Neuroscience

The Society for Neuroscience is the world's largest organization of scientists and physicians devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, now has nearly 37,000 members in more than 90 countries and over 130 chapters worldwide.


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