Neuroprotection of Osthole against Cerebral Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury through an Anti-apoptotic Pathway in Rats

• Li Kang

  Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University

• Ding Dun

  Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University

• Zhang Ming

  Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University

Abstract

Cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is a major cause of acute brain injury. The pathogenetic mechanisms underlying I/R injury involve apoptosis, inflammation and oxidative stress. Osthole—a plant coumarin compound—has been reported to protect against focal cerebral I/R-induced injury in rats. However, the mechanism remains unknown. Here we hypothesize that osthole acts through inhibition of apoptosis during focal cerebral I/R injury in rats. We induced cerebral I/R injury by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 2 h followed by reperfusion. We randomly assigned 60 rats to three groups (20 rats per group): sham-operated, vehicle-treated I/R, and osthole-treated I/R. We treated rats intraperitoneally with osthole (40 mg/kg) or vehicle 30 min before cerebral ischemia. We harvested the brains for infarct volume, brain water content, histological changes and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining as well as cleaved caspase-3, bax, and bcl-2 levels 24 h after reperfusion. Osthole treatment significantly attenuated cerebral dysfunction and histologic damage induced by I/R injury. Moreover, osthole-treated rats had a dramatic decrease in apoptotic neuronal cells along with a decrease in bax and cleaved caspase-3. The bcl-2 levels increased. Osthole treatment protects the brain from cerebral I/R injury by suppressing cell apoptosis. Thus, osthole may represent a novel practical strategy to prevent cerebral I/R injury.

Journal

• Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin

  Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin 39 (3), 336-342, 2016

  The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan

Keywords

• osthole
• cerebral
• ischemia
• reperfusion
• apoptosis

Details

• CRID: 1390001204632845568
• NII Article ID: 130005132306
• NII Book ID: AA10885497
• DOI: 10.1248/bpb.b15-00699
• ISSN: 13475215
• ISSN: 09186158
• NDL BIB ID: 027133618
• PubMed: 26934926
• Web Site: https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/books/R000000004-I027133618
• Web Site: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/bpb/39/3/39_b15-00699/_pdf
• Web Site: https://search.jamas.or.jp/link/ui/2016310945
• Text Lang: en
• Data Source:
  • JaLC
  • NDL
  • Crossref
  • PubMed
  • CiNii Articles
• Abstract License Flag: Disallowed