title: Betulinic acid protects against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury by activating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.
abstract: Betulinic acid (BA), a naturally occurring pentacyclic lupane group triterpenoid, has been demonstrated to protect against ischemia/reperfusion-induced renal damage. However, the effects of BA on cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury remain unclear. Hence, this study was to investigate the effects of BA on oxygen and glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) induced neuronal injury in rat hippocampal neurons. Our results showed that BA pretreatment greatly attenuated OGD/R-induced neuronal injury. BA also inhibited OGD/R-induced intracellular ROS production and MDA level in rat hippocampal neurons. Furthermore, the down-regulation of Bcl-2, up-regulation of Bax and the consequent activation of caspase-3 induced by OGD/R were reversed by BA pretreatment. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that BA pretreatment up-regulated the expression levels of p-PI3K and p-Akt in hippocampal neurons induced by OGD/R. Taken together, these data suggested that BA inhibits OGD/R-induced neuronal injury in rat hippocampal neurons through the activation of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450000, China.
authors.forename: Shujie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450000, China.
authors.forename: Hongcan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450000, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450000, China. Electronic address: tengjunfang_ph@163.com.
authors.forename: Junfang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Teng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology; D005947:Glucose / Q000172:deficiency; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D010100:Oxygen / Q000494:pharmacology; D053978:Pentacyclic Triterpenes; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism*; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D014315:Triterpenes / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000094062:Betulinic Acid
chemical_list: D005947:Glucose; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D010100:Oxygen; D053978:Pentacyclic Triterpenes; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D014315:Triterpenes; D000094062:Betulinic Acid
keywords: Apoptosis; Betulinic acid (BA); Cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R); Oxidative stress