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. 2020 Apr 30;21(9):3181.
doi: 10.3390/ijms21093181.

Current Synthesis and Systematic Review of Main Effects of Calf Blood Deproteinized Medicine (Actovegin®) in Ischemic Stroke

Florentina Carmen Firan  1 , Aurelia Romila  2   3 , Gelu Onose  4   5
Affiliations

Current Synthesis and Systematic Review of Main Effects of Calf Blood Deproteinized Medicine (Actovegin®) in Ischemic Stroke

Florentina Carmen Firan et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Background: Stroke is one of the largest problems and clinical-social challenges within neurology and, in general, pathology. Here, we briefly reviewed the main pathophysiological mechanisms of ischemic stroke, which represent targets for medical interventions, including for a calf blood deproteinized hemodialysate/ultrafiltrate.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review of current related literature concerning the effects of Actovegin®, of mainly the pleiotropic type, applied to the injury pathways of ischemic stroke.

Results: The bibliographic resources regarding the use of Actovegin® in ischemic stroke are scarce. The main Actovegin® actions refer to the ischemic stroke lesion items' ensemble, targeting tissue oxidation, energy metabolism, and glucose availability through their augmentation, combating ischemic processes and oxidative stress, and decreasing inflammation (including with modulatory connotations, by the nuclear factor-κB pathway) and apoptosis-like processes, counteracting them by mitigating the caspase-3 activation induced by amyloid β-peptides.

Conclusion: Since no available therapeutic agents are capable of curing the central nervous system's lesions, any contribution, such as that of Actovegin® (with consideration of a positive balance between benefits and risks), is worthy of further study and periodic reappraisal, including investigation into further connected aspects.

Keywords: Actovegin®; deproteinized ultrafiltrate/hemodialysate compound; endogenous defense activity; ischemic stroke; pathophysiological/damage mechanisms; pleiotropic action.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors confirm that there are no conflicts of interest. The producers of Actovegin® (Nycomed/Takeda) are constant partners of our societies (the Romanian Society for NeuroRehabilitation, the Romanian Spinal Cord Society, and the Romanian Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine & Balneoclimatology) and Clinic Division. They did not interfere with the study process (data collection or processing, concluding results or editing endeavors).

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Adapted from [59], Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram, customized for our study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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