Pelargonidin Ameliorates MCAO-Induced Cerebral Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Rats by Action on the Nrf2/HO-1 Pathway

Abstract Background: Morbidity and mortality remain high for ischemic stroke victims and at present there are no effective neuroprotective agents to improve the cure rate for these patients. In recent years, studies have shown that pelargonidin has many biological actions including anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombogenic effects. However, there are few reports about the treatment of cerebral ischemia with this agent. Methods: The rat middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model was established to investigate the neuroprotective effect of pelargonidin on cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury and to investigate its potential mechanism(s) of action. Magnetic resonance imaging and 2, 3, 5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining were used to measure the volume of cerebral ischemia and modified neurological severity score (mNSS), the Morris water maze test to assess neurological functions, and ELISA to determine the levels of inflammatory factors in serum including TNF-α, TGF-β, IL-6 and IL-10 and oxidative factors i.e. MDA and SOD. The expression of Nrf2 and HO-1 protein in brain tissue was measured by immunofluorescence and western blot assays. Results: The results showed that pelargonidin could effectively reduce the volume of cerebral ischemia and improve the neurological function in MCAO rats, thereby enhancing memory and learning ability. With corresponding decreases in the expression of TNF-α, TGF-β, IL-6 and MDA, pelargonidin increased the level of IL-10 and SOD and promoted the expression of Nrf2 and HO-1 proteins in ischemic brain tissues. Conclusions: Our datas demonstrated that pelargonidin ameliorated neurological function deficits in MCAO rats and its potential mechanism of action was associated with overexpression of the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway, which may provide a new approach to the treatment of cerebral ischemia or cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.