Effects of ischemic postconditioning and long non-coding RNAs in ischemic stroke

ABSTRACT

Stroke is a main cause of disability and death among adults in China, and acute ischemic stroke accounts for 80% of cases. The key to ischemic stroke treatment is to recanalize the blocked blood vessels. However, more than 90% of patients cannot receive effective treatment within an appropriate time, and delayed recanalization of blood vessels causes reperfusion injury. Recent research has revealed that ischemic postconditioning has a neuroprotective effect on the brain, but the mechanism has not been fully clarified. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have previously been associated with ischemic reperfusion injury in ischemic stroke. LncRNAs regulate important cellular and molecular events through a variety of mechanisms, but a comprehensive analysis of potential lncRNAs involved in the brain protection produced by ischemic postconditioning has not been conducted. In this review, we summarize the common mechanisms of cerebral injury in ischemic stroke and the effect of ischemic postconditioning, and we describe the potential mechanisms of some lncRNAs associated with ischemic stroke.

Graphical abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Ischemic stroke
• ischemic postconditioning
• remote ischemic postconditioning
• long non-coding RNAs
• neuroprotective effect

Ethical statement

No ethics approval was required for this study as it involved no human participants or animals.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, China[82160263], the Research Innovation Team of Yunnan Province, China [2019HC022], Yunnan Applied Basic Research Projects, China [202101AY070001-253, 202001AY070001-057, 2019FE001-175, 2020ZDKFKT004] and the Ten Thousand Person Plan for Famous Doctors of Yunnan Province, China [YNWR-MY-2018-015].