Therapeutic Treatment with Pycnogenol® Attenuates Ischemic Brain Injury in Gerbils Focusing on Cognitive Impairment, Neuronal Death, BBB Leakage and Neuroinflammation in the Hippocampus.

BACKGROUND

A gerbil model of ischemia and reperfusion (IR) injury in the forebrain has been developed for studies on mechanisms, prevention and therapeutic strategies of IR injury in the forebrain. Pycnogenol® (PYC), a standardized extract of French maritime pine tree (Pinus pinaster Aiton) has been exploited as an additive for dietary supplement. In the present study, we investigated the neuroprotective effects of post-treatment with PYC and its therapeutic mechanisms in gerbils.

METHODS

The gerbils were given sham and IR operation and intraperitoneally injected with vehicle and Pycnogenol® (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg, respectively) immediately, at 24 hours and 48 hours after sham and IR operation. Through 8-arm radial maze test and passive avoidance test, each spatial memory and short-term memory function was assessed. To examine the neuroprotection of Pycnogenol®, we conducted cresyl violet staining, immunohistochemistry for neuronal nuclei, and Fluoro-Jade B histofluorescence. Moreover, we carried out immunohistochemistry for immunoglobulin G (IgG) to investigate blood-brain barrier (BBB) leakage and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) to examine change in pro-inflammatory cytokine.

RESULTS

We found that IR-induced memory deficits were significantly ameliorated when 100 mg/kg Pycnogenol® was treated. In addition, treatment with 100 mg/kg Pycnogenol®, not 25 mg/kg nor 50 mg/kg, conferred neuroprotective effect against IR injury. For its mechanisms, we found that 100 mg/kg Pycnogenol® significantly reduced BBB leakage and inhibited the expression of IL-1β.

CONCLUSIONS

Therapeutic treatment (post-treatment) with Pycnogenol® after IR effectively attenuated ischemic brain injury in gerbils. Based on these results, we suggest that PYC can be employed as an important material for ischemic drugs.