Chrysin protects against focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury in mice through attenuation of oxidative stress and inflammation.
Inflammation and oxidative stress play an important part in the pathogenesis of focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, resulting in neuronal death. The signaling pathways involved and the underlying mechanisms of these events are not fully understood. Chrysin, which is a naturally occurring flavonoid, exhibits various biological activities. In this study, we investigated the neuroprotective properties of chrysin in a mouse model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). To this end, male C57/BL6 mice were pretreated with chrysin once a day for seven days and were then subjected to 1 h of middle cerebral artery occlusion followed by reperfusion for 24 h. Our data show that chrysin successfully decreased neurological deficit scores and infarct volumes, compared with the vehicle group. The increases in glial cell numbers and proinflammatory cytokine secretion usually caused by ischemia/reperfusion were significantly ameliorated by chrysin pretreatment. Moreover, chrysin also inhibited the MCAO-induced up-regulation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), compared with the vehicle. These results suggest that chrysin could be a potential prophylactic agent for cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury mediated by its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects.
Department of Neurology and Tianjin Neurological Institute, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin 300052, China. yaoy1986@gmail.com.
Yang
Y
Yao
Department of Neurology and Tianjin Neurological Institute, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin 300052, China. chenli06015105009@126.com.
Li
L
Chen
Department of Neurology and Tianjin Neurological Institute, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin 300052, China. xiaojinting1103@163.com.
Jinting
J
Xiao
Department of Neurology and Tianjin Neurological Institute, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin 300052, China. wangchunyang0407@gmail.com.
Chunyang
C
Wang
Department of Neurology and Tianjin Neurological Institute, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin 300052, China. jiangwei.med@gmail.com.
Wei
W
Jiang
Laboratory of Immunology and Inflammation, Research Center of Basic Medical Science, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China. rongxinz@yahoo.com.
Rongxin
R
Zhang
Department of Neurology and Tianjin Neurological Institute, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin 300052, China. hjw@tijmu.edu.cn.
Junwei
J
Hao
D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D020244:Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D007249:Inflammation / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D020768:Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D000975:Antioxidants; D016207:Cytokines; D005419:Flavonoids; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; C043561:chrysin