Quercetin attenuates neuronal cells damage in a middle cerebral artery occlusion animal model

Abstract

Cerebral ischemia is a neurological disorder with high mortality. Quercetin is a flavonoid compound that is abundant in vegetables and fruits. It exerts anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects. This study investigated the neuroprotective effects of quercetin in focal cerebral ischemia. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) to induce focal cerebral ischemia. Quercetin or vehicle was injected 30 min before the onset of ischemia. A neurological function test, brain edema measurement, and 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining were performed to elucidate the neuroprotective effects of quercetin. Western blot analysis was performed to observe caspase-3 and poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) protein expression. MCAO leads to severe neuronal deficits and increases brain edema and infarct volume. However, quercetin administration attenuated the MCAO-induced neuronal deficits and neuronal degeneration. We observed increases in caspase-3 and PARP protein levels in MCAO-operated animals injected with vehicle, whereas quercetin administration attenuated these increases in MCAO injury. This study reveals the neuroprotective effect of quercetin in an MCAO-induced animal model and demonstrates the regulation of caspase-3 and PARP expression by quercetin treatment. These results suggest that quercetin exerts a neuroprotective effect through preventing the MCAO-induced activation of apoptotic pathways affecting caspase-3 and PARP expression.

Identification of Proteins Differentially Expressed in the Striatum by Melatonin in a Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion Rat Model—a Proteomic and in silico Approach

“…However, a high concentration of γ-enolase is found in various brain pathologies, and inhibition of γ-enolase attenuates inflammation-related cellular injury (Haque et al, 2017). Our study showed that NSE expression decreased 24 h after cerebral ischemia, and the results are similar to previous findings (Gim et al, 2015; Jeon et al, 2017; Park et al, 2018). Our findings are further verified by western blot analysis and confocal immunofluorescence analysis, and melatonin treatment prevents the ischemia-induced decrease of NSE.…”

“…Middle cerebral artery occlusion was operated using a previously described method (Shah et al, 2016; Park et al, 2018). Briefly, all main arteries involved in blood occlusion were exposed, including the common carotid artery, external carotid artery, and internal carotid artery.…”

Neuroprotective Effect of Quercetin Against the Detrimental Effects of LPS in the Adult Mouse Brain

“…Other studies also recommended a quercetin dose of 30 mg/kg/day I.P. for a short period of time induce beneficial effects (Haleagrahara et al, 2009; Yang et al, 2014; Park et al, 2018). We evaluated the memory functions of the mice using MWM and Y-maze tests.…”

“…The dosage of quercetin was selected in accordance with previously reported studies that quercetin at a 30 mg/kg body weight dose induced more significant and beneficial effects than 10 or 20 mg/kg (Haleagrahara et al, 2009; Yang et al, 2014; Park et al, 2018). Quercetin was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to prepare the stock solution.…”

Quercetin Might Promote Autophagy in a Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion-Mediated Ischemia Model: Comments on Fawad-Ali Shah et al.

“…Therefore, during brain injury following ischemia, quercetin may induce pro-survival mechanisms leading to autophagy as occurring for other cell damaging events [11][12][13][14]. Quercetin exerts a protective role on MCAO-induced apoptosis in neuronal cells and induces autophagy-mediated cell survival in neuronal PC12 cells [15,16].…”