Authors :
Presenting Author: Soojin Park, BS – Yonsei University, College of Medicine
Jing Zhu, BS – Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Brain Korea 21 Project – Yonsei University College of Medicine; Chul Hoon Kim, MD, PhD – Department of Pharmacology, Brain Korea 21 Project, Brain Research Institute – Yonsei University, College of Medicine; Kyoung Hoon Jeong, PhD – Epilepsy Research Institute – Yonsei University, College of Medicine; Won-Joo Kim, MD, PhD – Department of Neurology – Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine
Rationale:
Adjudin, a potential non-hormonal male contraceptive, has been reported to play a neuroprotective role under pathophysiologic conditions. However, its effect on epileptic brain injury has not been assessed. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated whether the administration of adjudin can exert beneficial effects in a mouse model of pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus (SE).Methods:
For SE induction, mice were given scopolamine methyl nitrate (1 mg/kg, i.p.) 30 minutes before injection of pilocarpine (325 mg/kg, i.p.). After two hours of SE, diazepam (10 mg/kg, i.p.) was injected to terminate the seizure activity. Adjudin (50 mg/kg, i.p.) was administrated one hour after diazepam treatment and continued daily for three days after SE. Immunofluorescence staining and western blot analysis were used to evaluate the effects of adjudin treatment in the hippocampus after SE.Results:
In this study, we found that adjudin treatment protected SE-induced apoptotic neuronal damage in the hippocampus compared with those treated with vehicle after SE induction. In addition, adjudin treatment suppressed SE-induced glial activation in the hippocampus and activation of mammalian target of rapamycin signaling within activated glial cells. Furthermore, adjudin treatment exerted anti-inflammatory properties indicated by reduced tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β levels and elevated arginase-1 levels in the hippocampus after SE.Conclusions:
The present study demonstrates the anti-inflammatory effects of adjudin in the hippocampus after pilocarpine-induced SE. These findings suggest that adjudin may serve as a potential neuroprotective agent for SE-induced hippocampal damage.
Funding:
This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2021R1I1A1A01045520) and the Korea government (MSIT) (NRF-2022R1F1A1067170).