title: Edaravone inhibits JNK-c-Jun pathway and restores anti-oxidative defense after ischemia-reperfusion injury in aged rats.
abstract: Edaravone, a potent antioxidant, is currently being used in the management of acute ischemic stroke in relatively high-aged populations. Mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways have been shown to play important roles in neuronal cell death. We examined the role of MAPK pathways and the effect of treatment with edaravone in the brain after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in a bilateral carotid artery occlusion (BCAO) model with ischemia for 85 min followed by reperfusion for 45 min in aged rats. Western immunoblotting, immunostaining, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), spectrophotometry, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase nick end labeling (TUNEL) and triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining were performed to evaluate various proteins in the homogenate, c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) in the tissue sections, protein carbonyl, glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx), apoptosis and infarct size, respectively. Our results showed that I/R injury resulted in a reduction of GSHPx, but protein carbonyl content and inducible nitric oxide synthase were increased. The activation of JNK and its downstream molecule c-Jun was significantly increased after injury, whereas the activities of p38 MAPK and extracellular-regulated kinase 1/2 were slightly but not significantly increased. Edaravone (3 mg/kg, i.v.) treatment significantly reduced all of these changes. Our findings suggest that the JNK pathway differentially mediates neuronal injury in aged rats after BCAO, and edaravone treatment significantly reduces the neuronal damage after I/R injury by inhibiting oxidative stress and the JNK-c-Jun pathway with concomitant inhibition of overall MAPK activity in the brains of aged rats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Niigata University of Pharmacy and Applied Life Sciences, Higashijima, Japan.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Meilei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tachikawa
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kodama
authors.forename: Yoshifusa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aizawa
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism*; D000983:Antipyrine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000473:pathology; D000077553:Edaravone; D016758:Genes, jun / Q000235:genetics; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects*; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D000077553:Edaravone; D000983:Antipyrine