The effect of N-acetylcysteine on apoptosis and NGF-Akt/Bad pathway in the hippocampus tissue of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion in male rats.

Apoptosis is the primary pathological feature of neuronal injury caused by cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R). The detailed molecular mediators are still being debated. This study aims to examine the effects of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion on apoptosis and NGF-Akt/Bad axis in rat hippocampus alone and in combination with NAC (N-Acetylcysteine). Rats were subjected to common carotid artery occlusion (CCAO) for 20 min followed by 24 h reperfusion. NAC (150 mg/kg) was given intraperitoneally (ip) one hour before ischemia and five minutes before reperfusion. TUNEL staining of hippocampus neurons revealed that the number of apoptotic neurons was elevated 24 h after reperfusion. At the molecular levels, I/R injury resulted in an increased protein expression of cleaved caspase3/procaspase3 ratio and cytochrome c level with a concomitant down-regulation of NGF, p-AKT/AKT, p-Bad/Bad and p-Trk/Trk ratio. NAC treatment significantly reduced the apoptotic damage and also reversed NGF, p-AKT/AKT, p-Bad/Bad, and p-Trk/Trk ratio in hippocampus neurons in I/R rats. In conclusion, our data showed that NGF-Akt/Bad axis may play a regulatory role in hippocampus cell death, providing a new target for a novel therapeutic strategy during transit ischemic stroke. NAC has been shown to reverse molecular alterations, suggesting its potential as an effective agent against hippocampal apoptosis following acute I/R injury.