Astragaloside IV may alleviate hypoxic-ischemic brain damage. - GreenMedInfo Summary

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of astragaloside IV (AS-IV) on NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in neonatal rats with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD).

METHODS: A total of 24 Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 7 days, were randomly divided into a sham-operation group, an HIBD group, and an AS-IV treatment group, with 8 rats in each group. After 24 hours of modeling, brain tissue was collected for hematoxylin-eosin staining, yo-PRO-1 staining, and EthD-2 immunofluorescent staining in order to observe the cerebral protection effect of AS-IV in vivo. HT22 cells were used to prepare a model of oxygen-glycogen deprivation (OGD), and a concentration gradient (50-400μmol/L) was established for AS-IV. CCK-8 assay was used to measure the viability of HT22 cells. RT-PCR and Western blot were used to observe the effect of different concentrations of AS-IV on the mRNA and protein expression of NLRP3, gasdermin D (GSDMD), caspase-1, and interleukin-1β (IL-1β).

RESULTS: Yo-Pro-1 and EthD-2 staining showed that compared with the sham-operation group, the HIBD group had an increase in pyroptotic cells with a small number of necrotic cells, and the AS-IV group had reductions in both pyroptotic and necrotic cells. Compared with the sham-operation group, the HIBD group had significantly higher protein expression levels of NLRP3, IL-1β, caspase-1, and GSDMD (<0.05). Compared with the HIBD group, the AS-IV group had significant reductions in the protein expression levels of NLRP3, caspase-1, and GSDMD (<0.05). HT22 cell experiment showed that compared with the OGD group, the AS-IV group had inhibited mRNA and protein expression of NLRP3, GSDMD, caspase-1, and IL-1β, with the best therapeutic effect at the concentration of 200 μmol/L (<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: AS-IV may alleviate HIBD in neonatal rats by inhibiting the expression of NLRP3, GSDMD, caspase-1, and IL-1β.