Cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is a brain injury following ischaemic stroke that is associated with oxidative stress. Taraxasterol, a natural product, has been shown to have anti-oxidative and neuro-protective effects. However, the role of taraxasterol in cerebral I/R injury remains unknown. Primary hippocampal neurons were subjected to oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) to induce cerebral I/R injury in vitro. Cell viability of hippocampal neurons was measured CCK-8 assay. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and MDA generation were measured to reflect oxidative stress. Western blotting was performed to evaluate the expressions of bax, bcl-2, NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), haem oxygenase (HO-1), NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO-1) and GPx-3. Caspase-3 activity was measured to assess cell apoptosis. Hippocampal neurons were treated with ML385 to inhibit Nrf2 signalling pathway. Our results showed that taraxasterol improved OGD/R-caused decrease in cell viability of hippocampal neurons. In addition, taraxasterol significantly suppressed ROS production and MDA generation in OGD/R-induced hippocampal neurons. Taraxasterol resulted in a significant decrease in caspase-3 activity and bcl-2 expression, as well as increase in bax expression. Furthermore, taraxasterol induced the Nrf2 nuclear accumulation and expressions of HO-1, NQO-1 and GPx-3 in OGD/R-induced hippocampal neurons. Notably, inhibition of Nrf2 signalling reversed the protective effects of taraxasterol on OGD/R-induced hippocampal neurons injury. In conclusion, these findings indicated that taraxasterol protected hippocampal neurons from OGD/R-induced oxidative stress and cell apoptosis via regulating the Nrf2 signalling pathway.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.