title: The Neuroprotective Effects of Carvacrol on Ethanol-Induced Hippocampal Neurons Impairment via the Antioxidative and Antiapoptotic Pathways.
abstract: Chronic alcohol consumption causes hippocampal neuronal impairment, which is associated with oxidative stress and apoptosis. Carvacrol is a major monoterpenic phenol found in essential oils from the family Labiatae and has antioxidative stress and antiapoptosis actions. However, the protective effects of carvacrol in ethanol-induced hippocampal neuronal impairment have not been fully understood. We explored the neuroprotective effects of carvacrol in vivo and in vitro. Male C57BL/6 mice were exposed to 35% ethanol for 4 weeks to establish ethanol model in vivo, and hippocampal neuron injury was simulated by 200 mM ethanol in vitro. Morris water maze test was performed to evaluate the cognitive dysfunction. The oxidative stress injury of hippocampal neurons was evaluated by measuring the levels of oxidative stress biomarkers. Histopathological examinations and western blot were performed to evaluate the apoptosis of neurons. The results showed that carvacrol attenuates the cognitive dysfunction, oxidative stress, and apoptosis of the mice treated with ethanol and decreases hippocampal neurons apoptosis induced by ethanol in vitro. In addition, western blot analysis revealed that carvacrol modulates the protein expression of Bcl-2, Bax, caspase-3, and p-ERK, without influence of p-JNK and p-p38. Our results suggest that carvacrol alleviates ethanol-mediated hippocampal neuronal impairment by antioxidative and antiapoptotic effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, China; Department of Physiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Harbin Medical University-Daqing, Daqing 163319, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8162-2546
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Harbin Medical University-Daqing, Daqing 163319, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0781-8334
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Harbin Medical University-Daqing, Daqing 163319, China; Department of Gastroenterology, Daqing Oilfield General Hospital, Daqing 163319, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3012-3768
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Daqing Fifth Hospital, Daqing 163319, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8525-9462
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Harbin Medical University-Daqing, Daqing 163319, China.
authors.forename: Yonggang
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4021-1422
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Harbin Medical University-Daqing, Daqing 163319, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0435-5349
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Harbin Medical University-Daqing, Daqing 163319, China.
authors.forename: Ruxia
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1643-6610
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Harbin Medical University-Daqing, Daqing 163319, China.
authors.forename: Qianlong
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8186-5043
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8988-9245
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Harbin Medical University-Daqing, Daqing 163319, China.
authors.forename: Lihui
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4676-1430
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D000081007:Cymenes; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D039821:Monoterpenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects*; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000081007:Cymenes; D039821:Monoterpenes; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D000431:Ethanol; C073316:carvacrol