CCAO is a cerebrovascular disease due to cerebral hypo-perfusion. It is often associated with repeated ischemic stroke or transient neurological symptoms, progressive cognitive decline and reduction of daily ability. Specific and effective treatment is warranted for symptomatic management of CCAO. RIC is a non-invasive strategy to protect the brain. The clinical trials have demonstrated that daily limb RIC seems to be potentially effective in patients with symptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis in cerebral blood flow and metabolism. RIC can also ameliorate cerebral small vessel disease in slowing cognition decline and reducing white matter. Therefore, it is worth to investigate the neuroprotective mechanism of RIC for CCAO.
Chronic cerebral artery occlusion (CCAO), which is characterized by the pathophysiological change of long-term cerebral hemodynamic disorder, is one of the major risk factors affect the occurrence and recurrence of ischemic stroke. However, the mechanism of CCAO injury is not clear and effective treatment is warranted. The purpose of this study is to investigate the protective effect and underlying mechanism of remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) on CCAO.