Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2
Department of Biotechnology, Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Karaj, Tehran, Iran
3
Department of Genetics, Advanced Science and Technology, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
4
Farhikhtegan Medical Convergence Sciences Research Center, Farhikhtegan Hospital Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Objective: Reduction of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI)/re-oxygenation injury, is defined as the paradoxical
exacerbation of the cellular dysfunction and death, following restoration of the blood flow to previously ischemic tissues.
The re-establishment of blood flow is essential to salvage the ischemic tissues. As a result, the treatment of IRI with
novel therapies, which have fewer side effects, are of great importance. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the
effects of curcumin nanoparticle (CN) pre-treatment on the cerebral I/R rat model.
Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, CN was administered to rats orally five days before the bilateral
common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO) and continued for three days. The intensity of oxidative stress, the activities of
antioxidant enzymes, glutathione (GSH) content, the activity of mitochondrial enzymes, including succinate dehydrogenase
(SDH), malate dehydrogenase (MDH) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), curcumin bioavailability, pERK/ERK expression
ratio and TFEB protein were studied. Data analysis was performed using Graphpad Prism V.8 software, one-way analysis
of variance (ANOVA) with the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS V.26 software).
Results: Cerebral IRI-damage significantly increased the oxidative stress (P=0.0008) and decreased the activity
of the antioxidant enzymes including catalase (CAT) (P<0.001), super oxide dismutase (SOD) (P<0.001), reduced
GSH (P<0.001), mitochondrial enzymes, pERK/ERK expression ratio (P=0.002) and TEFB protein (P=0.005) in rats’
brains. In addition, the pre-treatment of the rats with CN resulted in a decrease in the reactive oxygen species (ROS),
and an increase in the activities of antioxidants and mitochondrial enzymes. This in turn up-regulated the pERK/ERK
expression ratio and TEFB expression.
Conclusion: CN has neuroprotective effects on the cerebral IRI condition due to its antioxidant properties and is able
to overexpress the pERK and TFEB proteins; thus, it can be considered as a suitable treatment option during and after
the incidence of stroke.
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