Neuroprotective effect of resveratrol on cerebral tissues after ischemia-reperfusion injury and its mechanisms in rats

Objective To study the neuroprotective effect of resveratrol on the cerebral tissues after ischemia-reperfusion injurya nd its mechanisms in rats.Methods Seventy-two adult rats were randomly divided into sham operation,high dose(40 mg/kg·bw)r esveratrol treatment,low dose(8 mg/kg·bw)resveratrol treatment and control groups of 18 animals each.The cerebral ischemia-r eperfusion injury models were made in all the group expert the sham operation group.Neurological defect scores and cerebral infarctf oci volumes were determined 24 hours after the cerebral reperfusion.Myeloperoxidase(MPO)activities,the contents of Evans blue,w hich was injected into the vein 23 hours after the cerebral reperfusion,and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),expression levels ofm atrix metalloproteinase-9(MMP-9)protein in the cerebral tissues,24 hours after the cerebral reperfusion injury were determined.R esults The neurological defect scores,volume of the cerebral infarct foci,and MPO activeities,Evans blue contents and expressionl evels of MMP-9 in the cerebral tissues were significantly lower in both the resveratrol treatment groups than those in the control group( P0.05),and they were dose-depedent.The content of TNF-αin the cerebral tissues was significantly lower in high dose resveratrolt reatment group than those in low dose treatment and control group(P0.05).Conclusions It is suggested that resveratrol is ofn europrotective effect on the cerebral tissues after ischemia-reperfussion injury probably by the decrease in the ischemia-reperfusion-i nduced imflammatory reaction and high permeability of blood-brain barrier.The anti-imflammatory effect of resveratrol may be relatedt o the reveratrol-induced decrease in the content of TNF-αin the cerebral tissues after the cerebral ischemia-reperfusion.The decreasei n the permeability of blood-brain barrier induced by resveratrol may be related to down-regulation of the MMP-9 expression in thec erebral tissues after the cerebral ischemia-reperfusion.