Open Access

Curcumin ameliorates ischemic stroke injury in rats by protecting the integrity of the blood‑brain barrier

  • Authors:
    • Shuguang Wu
    • Ting Guo
    • Wenxuan Qi
    • Yuyu Li
    • Jie Gu
    • Cui Liu
    • Yuehong Sha
    • Baocheng Yang
    • Shuqun Hu
    • Xuemei Zong
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: May 19, 2021     https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2021.10215
  • Article Number: 783
  • Copyright: © Wu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

The blood‑brain barrier (BBB) is critical for proper cerebral homeostasis and its dysfunction during ischemic stroke can result in significant neurological injury. The major goal of the present study was to identify whether curcumin pretreatment possessed protective effects on BBB integrity during the 24 h of acute ischemic brain injury. To investigate the protective effects of curcumin, male Sprague‑Dawley rats were divided into multiple groups, including sham, middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) vehicle and curcumin pretreated MCAO/R groups. The effects of curcumin were measured by analyzing neurological deficits, infarct size, BBB permeability and expression levels of permeability‑related proteins in the brain. It was found that curcumin pretreatment significantly improved neurological scores, decreased infarct size, and protected synaptic remodeling of hippocampal neurons and upregulated the protein expression level of tight junction proteins, ZO‑1, occludin and claudin‑5 in ischemic rat brains. Furthermore, curcumin pretreatment before stroke was shown to downregulate the phosphorylation of NF‑κB and MMP‑9, which are central mediators of inflammation. The results from the present study indicated that curcumin pretreatment ameliorated ischemic stroke injury by protecting BBB integrity and synaptic remodeling, as well as inhibiting inflammatory responses.
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July-2021
Volume 22 Issue 1

Print ISSN: 1792-0981
Online ISSN:1792-1015

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Spandidos Publications style
Wu S, Guo T, Qi W, Li Y, Gu J, Liu C, Sha Y, Yang B, Hu S, Zong X, Zong X, et al: Curcumin ameliorates ischemic stroke injury in rats by protecting the integrity of the blood‑brain barrier. Exp Ther Med 22: 783, 2021
APA
Wu, S., Guo, T., Qi, W., Li, Y., Gu, J., Liu, C. ... Zong, X. (2021). Curcumin ameliorates ischemic stroke injury in rats by protecting the integrity of the blood‑brain barrier. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, 22, 783. https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2021.10215
MLA
Wu, S., Guo, T., Qi, W., Li, Y., Gu, J., Liu, C., Sha, Y., Yang, B., Hu, S., Zong, X."Curcumin ameliorates ischemic stroke injury in rats by protecting the integrity of the blood‑brain barrier". Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine 22.1 (2021): 783.
Chicago
Wu, S., Guo, T., Qi, W., Li, Y., Gu, J., Liu, C., Sha, Y., Yang, B., Hu, S., Zong, X."Curcumin ameliorates ischemic stroke injury in rats by protecting the integrity of the blood‑brain barrier". Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine 22, no. 1 (2021): 783. https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2021.10215