OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to examine the effects of d-amphetamine (amph) upon recovery after embolic stroke in rats.

METHODS: Ninety-three rats were embolized in the right middle cerebral artery and assigned to: (1) controls; (2) combination (acute amph and later amph-facilitated retraining); (3) late amph (later amph-facilitated retraining alone); and (4) acute amph (acute amph alone). Animals in the combination and in the acute amph groups received a high dose of amph immediately after embolization, while later amph-facilitated retraining in the combination and late amph groups was done by administering a low dose of amph on post-stroke days 2, 5, 8, and 11 followed by retraining in Montoya's Staircase Test.

RESULTS: Rats receiving acute amph immediately after embolization achieved an 11% increase in median blood pressure (P<0.05). An investigation of performances with the ipsilateral paws during days 14-21 showed that the acute amph group performed better than the control group (P<0.02). Infarct volumes were lower among animals in the acute amph group than in both the combination and the late amph groups (P<0.05), while the controls did not differ from any group.

DISCUSSION: In conclusion, results showed that the acute amph group performed the best, while the late amph and the combination groups performed the worst. Amphetamine treatment in acute stroke may be warranted due to reduced detrimental effects of hypotension and improved brain plasticity.