Combination of cilostazol and clopidogrel attenuates Rat critical limb ischemia

Abstract Background and aim Procedural failure and untoward clinical outcomes after surgery remain problematic in critical limb ischemia (CLI) patients. This study tested a clopidogrel-cilostazol combination treatment compared with either treatment alone in attenuating CLI and improving CLI-region blood flow in rats. Methods Male Sprague–Dawley rats (n = 40) were equally divided into five groups: control, CLI induction only, CL I + cilostazol (12.0 mg/day/kg), CLI + clopidogrel (8.0 mg/kg/day) and CLI + combined cilostazol-clopidogrel. After treatment for 21 days, Laser Doppler imaging was performed. Results On day 21, the untreated CLI group had the lowest ratio of ischemic/normal blood flow (p Conclusion Combined cilostazol-clopidogrel therapy is superior to either agent alone in improving ischemia in rodent CLI.