scholarly journals Flutamide Enhances Neuroprotective Effects of Testosterone during Experimental Cerebral Ischemia in Male Rats

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamed Fanaei ◽  
Hamid Reza Sadeghipour ◽  
Seyed Morteza Karimian ◽  
Gholamreza Hassanzade
Keyword(s):  
Cerebral Ischemia ◽  
Middle Cerebral Artery ◽  
Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion ◽  
Cerebral Artery ◽  
Neurological Impairment ◽  
Artery Occlusion ◽  
Intact Male ◽  
Neuroprotective Effects ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Cerebral Artery Occlusion

Testosterone has been shown to worsen histological and neurological impairment during cerebral ischemia in animal models. Cell culture studies revealed that testosterone is implicated in protecting neural and glial cells against insults, and they started to elucidate testosterone pathways that underlie these protective effects. These studies support the hypothesis that testosterone can be neuroprotective throughout an episode of cerebral ischemia. Therefore, we evaluated the mechanisms underlying the shift between testosterone protective and deleterious effects via block testosterone aromatization and androgen receptors in rats subjected to 60-minute middle cerebral artery occlusion. Fifty rats were divided into five equal groups: gonadally intact male; castrated male; intact male + flutamide; intact male + letrozole; intact male + combination flutamide and letrozole. Our results indicated that castration has the ability to reduce histological damage and to improve neurological score 24 hours after middle cerebral artery occlusion. Moreover, flutamide improved histologic and neurological impairment better than castration. Letrozole induced increases in striatal infarct volume and seizures in gonadally intact rats. Combination of flutamide and letrozole showed that letrozole can reverse beneficial effects of flutamide. In conclusion, it seems that the beneficial effects of flutamide are the prevention of the deleterious effects and enhancement of neuroprotective effects of testosterone during cerebral ischemia.

scholarly journals N-Palmitoylethanolamide-Oxazoline Protects against Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion Injury in Diabetic Rats by Regulating the SIRT1 Pathway

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (19) ◽  
pp. 4845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Fusco ◽  
Maria Scuto ◽  
Marika Cordaro ◽  
Ramona D’Amico ◽  
Enrico Gugliandolo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cerebral Ischemia ◽  
Carotid Artery ◽  
Middle Cerebral Artery ◽  
Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion ◽  
Cerebral Artery ◽  
Ischemia Reperfusion ◽  
Artery Occlusion ◽  
External Carotid ◽  
Neuroprotective Effects ◽  
Cerebral Artery Occlusion

Diabetes causes various macrovascular and microvascular alterations, often culminating in major clinical complications (first of all, stroke) that lack an effective therapeutic intervention. N-palmitoylethanolamide-oxazoline (PEA-OXA) possesses anti-inflammatory and potent neuroprotective effects. Although recent studies have explained the neuroprotective properties of PEA-OXA, nothing is known about its effects in treating cerebral ischemia. Methods: Focal cerebral ischemia was induced by transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) in the right hemisphere. Middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion was provided by introducing a 4–0 nylon monofilament (Ethilon; Johnson & Johnson, Somerville, NJ, USA) precoated with silicone via the external carotid artery into the internal carotid artery to occlude the MCA. Results: A neurological severity score and infarct volumes were carried out to assess the neuroprotective effects of PEA-OXA. Moreover, we observed PEA-OXA-mediated improvements in tissue histology shown by a reduction in lesion size and an improvement in apoptosis level (assessed by caspases, Bax, and Bcl-2 modulation and a TUNEL assay), which further supported the efficacy of PEA-OXA therapy. We also found that PEA-OXA treatment was able to reduce mast cell degranulation and reduce the MCAo-induced expression of NF-κB pathways, cytokines, and neurotrophic factors. Conclusions: based on these findings, we propose that PEA-OXA could be useful in decreasing the risk of impairment or improving function in ischemia/reperfusion brain injury-related disorders.

Melatonin and calpeptin synergistically protect against post-reperfusion injury in a rat middle cerebral artery occlusion stroke model

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 592-612
Author(s):  
Ye Feng ◽  
Qian Xu ◽  
Raymond Tak Fai Cheung
Keyword(s):  
Cerebral Ischemia ◽  
Middle Cerebral Artery ◽  
Reperfusion Injury ◽  
Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion ◽  
Cerebral Artery ◽  
Neurological Deficit ◽  
Infarct Volume ◽  
Artery Occlusion ◽  
Stroke Model ◽  
Cerebral Artery Occlusion

Cerebral ischemia induces oxidative injury and increases the intracellular calcium ion concentration to activate several calcium-dependent proteases such as calpains. Calpain activation leads to various necrotic and apoptotic processes. Calpeptin is a potent, cell-permeable calpain inhibitor. As a strong antioxidant and free radical scavenger, melatonin shows beneficial effect in rodent models of focal cerebral ischemia when given prior to ischemia or reperfusion. This study was focused on the neuroprotective effects of melatonin and/or calpeptin given after onset of reperfusion. For this purpose, right-sided middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 90 minutes followed by 24 or 72 hours of reperfusion was performed in male Sprague Dawley rats, then, melatonin 50 or 150 µg/kg, calpeptin 10, 15 or 50 µg/kg or a combination of melatonin 50 µg/kg plus calpeptin 15 or 50 µg/kg were injected via an intracerebroventricular route at 15 minutes after onset of reperfusion. Melatonin or calpeptin tended to reduce the relative infarct volume and significantly decreased the neurological deficit at 24 hours. The combination achieved a greater protection than each of them alone. Melatonin, calpeptin or the combination all decreased Fluoro-Jade B (FJB)+ degenerative neurons and cleaved/total caspase-3 ratio at 24 hours. These treatments did not significantly impact the density of surviving neurons and ED-1+ macrophage/activated microglia. At the 72-hour-reperfusion, melatonin or the combination decreased the relative infarct volume and neurological deficit. Nevertheless, only the combination reduced FJB+ degenerating neurons at 72 hours. In conclusion, a combination of melatonin and calpeptin exerted synergistic protection against post-reperfusion injury in a rat MCAO stroke model.

scholarly journals Inhibition of MicroRNA-383 Ameliorates Injury After Focal Cerebral Ischemia via Targeting PPARγ

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 1339-1346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lichun Pei ◽  
Songyan Meng ◽  
Weigang Yu ◽  
Qiujun Wang ◽  
Fangfang Song ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cerebral Ischemia ◽  
Middle Cerebral Artery ◽  
Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion ◽  
Cerebral Artery ◽  
Protein Level ◽  
Focal Cerebral Ischemia ◽  
Infarct Volume ◽  
Artery Occlusion ◽  
Luciferase Assay ◽  
Cerebral Artery Occlusion

Background: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) plays a critical role in protecting against distinct brain damages, including ischemia. Our previous data have shown that the protein level of PPARγ is increased in the cortex after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO); PPARγ up-regulation contributes to PPARγ activation and is effective in reducing ischemic damage to brain. However, the regulatory mechanism of PPARγ after focal cerebral ischemia in rats is still unclear. In this study, we evaluated the effect of microRNA on PPARγ in rats subjected to MCAO. Methods: Focal cerebral ischemia was established by surgical middle cerebral artery occlusion; the protein level of PPARγ was detected by Western blotting; the level of microRNA-383 (miR-383) was quantified by real-time PCR; the neurological outcomes were defined by infarct volume and neurological deficits. Luciferase assay was used to identify the luciferase activities of PPARγ and miR-383. Results: We showed here that miR-383 level was down-regulated in the ischemic hemisphere of rats 24h after MCAO. Overexpression of miR-383 by miR-383 agomir increased infarct volume and aggravated neurological damage. Administration of miR-383 antagomir had the opposite effects. Furthermore, we found that PPARγ protein was down-regulated by miR-383 overexpression, and up-regulated by miR-383 inhibition both in rat model of MCAO and in primary culture cells. Finally, we found that miR-383 suppressed the luciferase activity of the vector carrying the 3'UTR of PPARγ, whereas mutation of the binding sites relived the repressive effect of miR-383. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that miR-383 may play a key role in focal cerebral ischemia by regulating PPARγ expression at the post-transcriptional level, and miR-383 may be a potential therapeutic target for stroke.

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