Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.
Faculty of Biotechnology, Amol University of Special Modern Technologies, Amol, Iran.
Int J Neurosci. 2022 Nov;132(11):1102-1109. doi: 10.1080/00207454.2020.1860971. Epub 2021 Jan 21.
Cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) causes memory and learning impairments and apoptosis in the hippocampus. The aim of present study aimed to investigate the anti-apoptotic effects of silymarin-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (SM-CS-NPs) on the expression of Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 genes in hippocampal neurons after I/R injury.
SM and SM-CS-NPs were orally administered (15 mg/kg) for 14 days, and then cerebral I/R injury was induced by the bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO). One day after I/R induction, memory and learning impairments and various biochemical estimations were assessed.
Our results indicated that SM-CS-NPs improved I/R-induced memory and learning impairments and oxidative damage in the hippocampal region. The qRT-PCR analysis indicated that SM-CS-NPs pretreatment inhibited I/R-induced neuronal apoptosis by increasing the expression of Bcl-2 and decreasing the expression of Caspase-3 in the hippocampus.
These findings suggest that SM-CS-NPs exert neuroprotective effects, and the neuroprotection is likely to be associated with the regulation of Bcl-2 and Caspase-3, leading to inhibition of apoptotic cell death in hippocampal neurons.
脑缺血/再灌注（I/R）会导致海马区的记忆和学习损伤以及细胞凋亡。本研究旨在探讨水飞蓟素载壳聚糖纳米粒（SM-CS-NPs）对 I/R 损伤后海马神经元中 Bcl-2 和 Caspase-3 基因表达的抗凋亡作用。
SM 和 SM-CS-NPs 经口给药（15mg/kg）14 天，然后通过双侧颈总动脉闭塞（BCCAO）诱导脑 I/R 损伤。I/R 诱导后 1 天，评估记忆和学习损伤以及各种生化指标。
我们的结果表明，SM-CS-NPs 改善了 I/R 诱导的记忆和学习损伤以及海马区的氧化损伤。qRT-PCR 分析表明，SM-CS-NPs 预处理通过增加 Bcl-2 的表达和降低 Caspase-3 的表达抑制了 I/R 诱导的神经元凋亡。
这些发现表明 SM-CS-NPs 发挥了神经保护作用，这种神经保护可能与 Bcl-2 和 Caspase-3 的调节有关，从而抑制了海马神经元的细胞凋亡。
