title: C-Phycocyanin is neuroprotective against global cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury in gerbils.
abstract: Although the huge economic and social impact and the predicted incidence increase, neuroprotection for ischemic stroke remains as a therapeutically empty niche. In the present study, we investigated the rationale of the C-Phycocyanin (C-PC) treatment on global cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in gerbils. We demonstrated that C-PC given either prophylactically or therapeutically was able to significantly reduce the infarct volume as assessed by triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining and the neurological deficit score 24h post-stroke. In addition, C-PC exhibited a protective effect against hippocampus neuronal cell death, and significantly improved the functional outcome (locomotor behavior) and gerbil survival after 7 days of reperfusion. Malondialdehyde (MDA), peroxidation potential (PP) and ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) were assayed in serum and brain homogenates to evaluate the redox status 24h post-stroke. The treatment with C-PC prevented the lipid peroxidation and the increase of FRAP in both tissue compartments. These results suggest that the protective effects of C-PC are most likely due to its antioxidant activity, although its anti-inflammatory and immuno-modulatory properties reported elsewhere could also contribute to neuroprotection. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the neuroprotective effect of C-PC in an experimental model of global cerebral I/R damage, and strongly indicates that C-PC may represent a potential preventive and acute disease modifying pharmacological agent for stroke therapy.
authors.affiliation: Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Havana, Cuba. giselle.penton@cigb.edu.cu
authors.forename: Giselle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pentón-Rol
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marín-Prida
authors.forename: Gilberto
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pardo-Andreu
authors.forename: Gregorio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martínez-Sánchez
authors.forename: Emilio Felino
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Acosta-Medina
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valdivia-Acosta
authors.forename: Nielsen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lagumersindez-Denis
authors.forename: Efraín
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Jiménez
authors.forename: Alexey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Llópiz-Arzuaga
authors.forename: Pedro Antonio
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: López-Saura
authors.forename: Gerardo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guillén-Nieto
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pentón-Arias
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005849:Gerbillinae; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000378:metabolism; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010798:Phycocyanin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000473:pathology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D010798:Phycocyanin; D008315:Malondialdehyde