Vitor Rodel Jonathan S, Tochinai Ryota, Sekizawa Shin-Ichi, Kuwahara Masayoshi
Laboratory of Veterinary Pathophysiology and Animal Health, Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila 1000, Philippines.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Jun 27;26(13):6215. doi: 10.3390/ijms26136215.
Stroke is still considered a predominant cause of morbidity and mortality, for which research on prevention and cure has been sought to prevent neuronal damage after a stroke incident. In this research, we evaluated the protective effects of virgin coconut oil (VCO) using behavioral, morphophysiological, and gene expression parameters using an ischemic stroke surgical rat model using Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. Eight-week-old SD rats were subjected to repeated oral administration (5 mL/kg/day) of either 1% Tween 80 or VCO. For behavioral and morphophysiological parameters, surgery was performed for each group, after which neurological scoring was performed at 4 h, 24 h, 48 h, 5 d, and 10 d. Further, hematological and brain morphology assessment was performed after euthanasia and necropsy of the animals. For gene expression studies, surgery was performed with animals sacrificed at different time points (baseline, before surgery, 4 h, 24 h, and 48 h after surgery) to collect the brain. Results of the study showed that there are differences in the neurological scores between the two treatments 24 h, 48 h, and 5 d after surgery. Brain morphology assessment also showed favorable results for VCO for infarct size, edema, and hypoxic neurons. Gene expression studies also showed positive results with an increase in the relative expression of angiogenin (), angiopoietin (), , dynamin-related protein 1 (), mitofusin 2 (), and mitochondrial rho () and decreased relative expression of caspase 3, receptor for advanced glycation end-product ), and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (). In summary, the current study shows that VCO may have protective effects on the brain after stroke, which may be explained by the results of the gene expression studies.
中风仍然被认为是发病和死亡的主要原因，针对此，人们一直在寻求预防和治疗的研究，以防止中风事件后神经元受损。在本研究中，我们使用行为学、形态生理学和基因表达参数，通过斯普拉格-道利（SD）大鼠缺血性中风手术模型，评估了初榨椰子油（VCO）的保护作用。8周龄的SD大鼠每天重复口服给予1%吐温80或VCO（5 mL/kg/天）。对于行为学和形态生理学参数，对每组进行手术，然后在4小时、24小时、48小时、5天和10天进行神经学评分。此外，在动物安乐死和剖检后进行血液学和脑形态学评估。对于基因表达研究，在不同时间点（基线、手术前、手术后4小时、24小时和48小时）处死动物并进行手术以收集大脑。研究结果表明，术后24小时、48小时和5天，两种治疗方法的神经学评分存在差异。脑形态学评估也显示VCO在梗死面积、水肿和缺氧神经元方面有良好结果。基因表达研究也显示出阳性结果，血管生成素、血管生成素、动力相关蛋白1、线粒体融合蛋白2和线粒体rho的相对表达增加，而半胱天冬酶3、晚期糖基化终产物受体和甘油醛-3-磷酸脱氢酶的相对表达降低。总之，当前研究表明VCO可能对中风后的大脑具有保护作用，这可能由基因表达研究结果来解释。
