Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, PR China.
Eur J Pharmacol. 2011 Aug 16;664(1-3):20-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2011.04.052. Epub 2011 May 1.
Cordycepin, (3'-deoxyadenosine), a bioactive compound of Cordyceps militaris, has been shown to exhibit many pharmacological actions, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidative and anticancer activities. Little is known about the neuroprotective action of cordycepin as well as its molecular mechanisms. In this study, cordycepin was investigated for its neuroprotective potential in mice with ischemia following 15 min of the bilateral common carotid artery occlusion and 4h of reperfusion. The effect of cordycepin was also studied in mice brain slices treated with oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) injury. Our results showed that cordycepin was able to prevent postischemic neuronal degeneration and brain slice injury. Excitatory amino acids such as glutamate and aspartate in brain homogenized supernatant, which were increased in ischemia/reperfusion group, were detected by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results showed that cordycepin was able to decrease the extracellular level of glutamate and aspartate significantly. Moreover, cordycepin was able to increase the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and decrease the level of malondialdehyde (MDA), ameliorating the extent of oxidation. Furthermore, matrix metalloproteinase-3(MMP-3), a key enzyme involved in inflammatory reactions, was markedly increased after ischemia reperfusion, whereas cordycepin was able to inhibit its expression obviously. In conclusion, our in vivo and in vitro study showed that cordycepin was able to exert a potent neuroprotective function after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion.
蛹虫草素（3'-脱氧腺苷）是蛹虫草的一种生物活性化合物，已显示出许多药理作用，如抗炎、抗氧化和抗癌活性。然而，关于蛹虫草素的神经保护作用及其分子机制知之甚少。在这项研究中，研究了蛹虫草素在双侧颈总动脉闭塞 15 分钟和再灌注 4 小时后缺血小鼠中的神经保护潜力。还研究了蛹虫草素在氧葡萄糖剥夺（OGD）损伤的小鼠脑片中的作用。研究结果表明，蛹虫草素能够预防缺血后神经元变性和脑片损伤。通过高效液相色谱（HPLC）检测到缺血再灌注组中增加的脑匀浆上清液中的兴奋性氨基酸，如谷氨酸和天冬氨酸。结果表明，蛹虫草素能够显著降低细胞外谷氨酸和天冬氨酸的水平。此外，蛹虫草素能够增加超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）的活性，降低丙二醛（MDA）的水平，减轻氧化程度。此外，基质金属蛋白酶-3（MMP-3）是炎症反应中的关键酶，在缺血再灌注后明显增加，而蛹虫草素能够明显抑制其表达。总之，我们的体内和体外研究表明，蛹虫草素在脑缺血再灌注后能够发挥强大的神经保护功能。
