Tehran University of Medical Sciences Acta Medica Iranica 0044-6025 55 12 2018 01 16 785 792 EN Abolqasem Bagheri Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, International Campus, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Sahand Talei School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Negar Hassanzadeh School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Tahmineh Mokhtari Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Research Center of Nervous System Stem Cells, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran. Mohammad Akbari Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Fatemeh Malek Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Seyed Behnamedin Jameie Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Yousef Sadeghi Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Gholamreza Hassanzadeh Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 2017 03 04 2017 04 30 Cerebral ischemic stroke is a common leading cause of disability. Flaxseed is a richest plant-based source of antioxidants. In this study, the effects of flaxseed oil (FSO) pretreatment on functional motor recovery and gene expression and protein content of neurotrophic factors in motor cortex area in rat model of brain ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) were assessed. Transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAo) in rats was used as model brain I/R. Rats (6 in each group) were randomly divided into four groups of Control (Co+normal saline [NS]), Sham (Sh+NS), tMCAo+NS and tMCAo+FSO. After three weeks of pretreatment with vehicle or FSO (0.2 ml~800 mg/kg body weight), the rats were operated in sham and ischemic groups. Ischemia was induced for 1 h and then reperfused. After 24 h of reperfusion, neurological examination was performed, and animals were sacrificed, and their brains were used for molecular and histopathological studies. FSO significantly improved the functional motor recovery compared with tMCAo+NS group (P<0.05). A significant reduction in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) mRNAs and protein levels were observed in the tMCAo+NS group compared with Co+NS and Sh+NS group (P<0.05). A significant increase of BDNF and GDNF mRNAs and proteins was recorded in the tMCAo+FSO group compared with Co+NS, Sh+NS and tMCAO+NS groups (P<0.05). The results of the current study demonstrated that pretreatment with FSO had neuroprotective effects on motor cortex area following cerebral ischemic stroke by increasing the neurotrophic factors (BDNF, GDNF). https://acta.tums.ac.ir/index.php/acta/article/view/6274 https://acta.tums.ac.ir/index.php/acta/article/download/6274/5032