| Post-stroke disabilities like cognitive impairment impose are complex conditions with great economic burdens on health
care systems. For these comorbidities, no efective therapies have been identifed yet. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors
(nAChRs) are multifunctional receptors participating in various behavioral and neurobiological functions. During brain
ischemia, the increased glutamate accumulation leads to neuronal excitotoxicity as well as mitochondrial dysfunction.
These abnormalities then cause the increased levels of oxidants, which play key roles in neuronal death and apoptosis in the
infarct zone. Additionally, recall of cytokines and infammatory factors play a prominent role in the exacerbation of ischemic
injury. As well, neurotrophic factors’ insufciency results in synaptic dysfunction and cognitive impairments in ischemic
brain. Of note, nAChRs through various signaling pathways can participate in therapeutic approaches such as cholinergic
system’s stimulation, and reduction of excitotoxicity, infammation, apoptosis, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction,
and autophagy. Moreover, the possible roles of nAChRs in neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, and stimulation of neurotrophic
factors expression have been reported previously. On the other hand, the majority of the above-mentioned mechanisms were
found to be common in both brain ischemia pathogenesis and cognitive function tuning. Therefore, it seems that nAChRs
might be known as key regulators in the control of ischemia pathology, and their modulation could be considered as a new
avenue in the multi-target treatment of post-stroke cognitive impairment. |