A Systematic Review of Depth-Dependent Cytoprotection with Therapeutic Hypothermia for Cerebral Ischemia.

Preclinical studies show that therapeutic hypothermia (TH) effectively reduces cerebral ischemic injury. In contrast, TH has not been consistently beneficial in clinical trials of stroke and cardiac arrest, perhaps from suboptimal dosing (e.g., delay, depth, and duration), among other factors. This...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Therapeutic Hypothermia & Temperature Management Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 1 - 16
Main Authors: Parranto, Marin R., Kung, Tiffany F.C., Liddle, Lane J., Khalid, Tayyaba, Thorkelsson, Aline B., Klahr, Ana C., Almekhlafi, Mohammed, Colbourne, Frederick
Format: research systematic review tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Mar2026
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=191654241&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ccm
    uiTerm: 191654241
    longDbName: CINAHL Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    dissinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        21537658
        EGZB
      jtl: Therapeutic Hypothermia & Temperature Management
      issn: 21537658
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Mar2026
      vid: 16
      iid: 1
      pid: 1365
      pub: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
      place: New Rochelle, New York
    artinfo:
      ui:
        191654241
        191654241
        191654241
        10.1177/21537658251377958
        191654241
      ppf: 1
      ppct: 15
      formats:
      tig:
        atl: A Systematic Review of Depth-Dependent Cytoprotection with Therapeutic Hypothermia for Cerebral Ischemia.
      aug:
        au:
          Parranto, Marin R.
          Kung, Tiffany F.C.
          Liddle, Lane J.
          Khalid, Tayyaba
          Thorkelsson, Aline B.
          Klahr, Ana C.
          Almekhlafi, Mohammed
          Colbourne, Frederick
        affil: Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
      sug:
        subj:
          Cerebral Ischemia Therapy
          Hypothermia, Induced
          Dose-Response Relationship
          Treatment Outcomes
          Human
          Systematic Review
          Ischemic Stroke
          Heart Arrest
          In Vivo Studies
          Checklists
          PubMed
          Descriptive Statistics
          Analysis of Variance
          Post Hoc Analysis
          Data Analysis Software
          Funding Source
      ab: Preclinical studies show that therapeutic hypothermia (TH) effectively reduces cerebral ischemic injury. In contrast, TH has not been consistently beneficial in clinical trials of stroke and cardiac arrest, perhaps from suboptimal dosing (e.g., delay, depth, and duration), among other factors. This systematic review aimed to find an optimal depth of TH from in vivo adult preclinical studies of global and focal ischemia. To study depth, without other confounds, we examined studies that compared ≥2 depths of TH versus normothermic controls. Our primary outcomes were infarct size (focal ischemia) and hippocampal cell death (global ischemia), while secondary outcomes were behavior, edema, and striatal cell death. Studies were assessed with the SYRCLE Risk of Bias tool (e.g., use of blinding) and additional indices of translational rigor (e.g., use of aged animals). Thirty studies were included from a search of the PubMed database in 2025. Many studies were rated as exhibiting a high risk of bias with low translational rigor. Overall, TH provided considerable protection on all endpoints, sometimes up to 100%, but no consistent dose–response patterns emerged, nor was an optimal depth of cooling readily evident. To explore the latter finding, specifically sampling variability, we conducted Monte Carlo simulations using the pooled standard deviation of the preclinical studies to generate three populations based upon a theoretical 5% protection per 1°C relationship (37°C vs. 32°C vs. 27°C groups run 75 times). Dose-dependent effects were statistically detectable in only 36% of comparisons, which showed comparably noisy patterns of protection. Thus, the variable dose-dependent effects in the reviewed animal studies likely arise, at least partially, from sampling error owing to using small samples from variable populations (average n = 8/group in focal ischemia). Overall, these findings highlight weaknesses in the extant dose–response literature that limit our ability to precisely guide clinical trials.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        systematic review
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
    refInfo:
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N