Quercetin attenuates ischemia reperfusion injury by protecting the blood-brain barrier through Sirt1 in MCAO rats

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the protective action and mechanisms of quercetin on the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in rats subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) and reperfusion. Quercetin (10, 30, 50 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally administered at the onset of reperfusion. The results showed that quercetin significantly reduced cerebral infarct volume, neurological deficit, BBB permeability and ROS generation via Sirt1/Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway. Moreover, EX527, a selective inhibitor of Sirt1, reversed these neuroprotective effects. Our findings indicate that quercetin has neuroprotective effects against cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury by protecting BBB through Sirt1 signaling pathway in MCAO rats.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Quercetin
• ischemic stroke
• blood-brain barrier
• Sirt1
• oxidative stress

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by grants from CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (CIFMS) (2016-I2M-3-007, 2017-I2M-1-010), Major Scientific and Technological Special Project for “Significant New Drug Creation” (2018ZX09711001-003-005), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81102444, 82073863, 82004071) and the China Scholarship Council (201808110107).