Epoxyeicosatrienoic acid ameliorates cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury by inhibiting inflammatory factors and pannexin-1

摘要

Epoxyeicosatrienoic acid (EET) has wide applications due to the unique biological effects of antihyper-lipidemia, inhibition of platelet aggregation, anti-inflammation, anti-cancer, anti-lipid oxidation and the promotion of brain tissue development. The present study investigated whether EET ameliorates cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (CIRI) by inhibiting inflammatory factors and pannexin. Specific pathogen-free 7-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups: Sham, CIRI and EET. Neurological deficit scores, cerebral infarct volume and cerebral edema were assessed in CIRI rats. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were performed to detect tumor necrosis factor-a, interleukin-6, nuclear factor-kappa B and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) levels, and western blot analysis was performed also used to assess cleaved caspase-3, phospholipase A2 (PLA2), cyclooxygenase-2 and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) protein expression levels. EET ameliorated cerebral injury and CIRI-induced cleaved caspase-3 protein expression levels in rats. EET additionally suppressed CIRI-induced inflammation reactions and iNOS protein expression in rats. Furthermore, the protein expression levels of PLA2, PGE2 and pannexin-1 in CIRI rats were inhibited by treatment with EET. These results indicated that EET reduces CIRI by inhibiting inflammation and levels of cleaved caspase-3, PLA2, PGE2 and pannexin-1.