Abstract

Objective: Global cerebral ischemia, resulting from reduced blood flow to the brain, often causes significant neuronal damage, particularly in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, which plays a critical role in memory processes.

Materials and methods: Seventy adult male rats were randomly assigned to seven groups) N=10). Group 1 control, while group 2 was the sham group. Group 3 underwent global cerebral ischemia (CI) without treatment. Groups 4 and 5 received CI followed by treatment with forskolin and atorvastatin, respectively. Groups 6 and 7 were treated with two different vehicle solutions following CI. Global cerebral ischemia was created by occluding both common carotid arteries. Forskolin and atorvastatin were administered intraperitoneally at 4, 24, and 42 hours post-ischemia in groups 4 and 5. Nissl staining was performed to confirm the induction of the ischemia model. The TUNEL assay was used to assess the neuroprotective effects of atorvastatin and forskolin. Cognitive function was evaluated using the Morris water maze test. Data were investigated using one-way ANOVA.

Results: Both atorvastatin and forskolin significantly attenuated neuronal loss and apoptosis in the CA1 region of the hippocampus following cerebral ischemia. Although forskolin consistently showed greater neuroprotective effects across all assessed parameters compared to atorvastatin, these differences did not reach statistical significance, suggesting comparable efficacy between the two treatments.

Conclusion: The results suggest that atorvastatin and forskolin may serve as promising therapeutic candidates for protecting hippocampal neurons and preserving cognitive function after cerebral ischemia.