This literature review aims at presenting the main possibilities for the clinical application of cilostazol in the central nervous system. Cilostazol, a selective phosphodiesterase type III inhibitor, increases adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate levels on platelets, endothelial and smooth muscle cells, having vasodilatory, antiplatelet and antithrombotic properties. Currently, it is the first-choice drug for intermittent claudication, due to peripheral occlusive vascular disease. In addition, there is evidence showing that cilostazol is efficacious in cerebral atherosclerotic process, resulting in increase of blood flow and volume and preventing infarctions, especially lacunar and recurrent, since it reduces cellular death due to apoptosis and oxidative stress in white and gray substances.
Phosphodiesterase inhibitors; cerebral infarction; cerebral blood flow; cilostazol