title: Cordycepin protects against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury in vivo and in vitro.
abstract: Cordycepin, (3'-deoxyadenosine), a bioactive compound of Cordyceps militaris, has been shown to exhibit many pharmacological actions, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidative and anticancer activities. Little is known about the neuroprotective action of cordycepin as well as its molecular mechanisms. In this study, cordycepin was investigated for its neuroprotective potential in mice with ischemia following 15 min of the bilateral common carotid artery occlusion and 4h of reperfusion. The effect of cordycepin was also studied in mice brain slices treated with oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) injury. Our results showed that cordycepin was able to prevent postischemic neuronal degeneration and brain slice injury. Excitatory amino acids such as glutamate and aspartate in brain homogenized supernatant, which were increased in ischemia/reperfusion group, were detected by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results showed that cordycepin was able to decrease the extracellular level of glutamate and aspartate significantly. Moreover, cordycepin was able to increase the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and decrease the level of malondialdehyde (MDA), ameliorating the extent of oxidation. Furthermore, matrix metalloproteinase-3(MMP-3), a key enzyme involved in inflammatory reactions, was markedly increased after ischemia reperfusion, whereas cordycepin was able to inhibit its expression obviously. In conclusion, our in vivo and in vitro study showed that cordycepin was able to exert a potent neuroprotective function after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhenyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Xiaoxia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Xulin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Shanshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Chenming
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Lianjun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002452:Cell Count; D003839:Deoxyadenosines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018846:Excitatory Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000378:metabolism; D019278:Matrix Metalloproteinase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D011419:Propidium / Q000378:metabolism; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D003839:Deoxyadenosines; D018846:Excitatory Amino Acids; D011419:Propidium; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D019278:Matrix Metalloproteinase 3; C058120:cordycepin; D005947:Glucose; D010100:Oxygen