NF-κB inhibitors relieve brain injury following focal cerebral ischemia in rats

Objective To investigate effect of the NF-κB inhibitor on cerebral ischemia and brain damage.Methods 116 Wistar rats were selected at random and 98 of them were used to make brain ischemia model by embolizing the middle cerebral artery.The models were divided into four groups:44 model rats in experimental group were injected intraperitoneally with PDTC(NF-κB inhibitor), 24 model rats in PBS group were injected with PBS,30 model rats in ischemia group were not given anything,and the rest 18 rats constituted normal group.Blood-brain barrier permeability, cerebral edema and degree of cerebral infarction detected by HE staining were recorded.NF-κB p65 subunit,IL-6,and IL-1b expression in brain tissue were detected by Western blot.Results Compared with normal group,water content of brain tissue and NF-κB p65 significantly increased in ischemia group (P 0.05).Compared with ischemia group,water content of brain tissue and NF-κB p65 expression significantly decreased in experimental group (P 0.05).Compared with ischemia group and PBS group,cerebral infarct size and expression of IL-6 and IL-1b significantly decreased in experimental group (P 0.05).Conclusion NF-κB is activated in cerebral ischemia and causes brain damage.Inhibiting NF-κB can reduce ischemic brain injury,its mechanism may be inhibiting the inflammatory reaction after cerebral ischemia.