ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE To study the improvement effect and mechanism of Gastrodia elata active ingredient 3，4- dihydroxybenzaldehyde （3，4-DD） on oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation（OGD/R） injury in rat primary brain microvascular endothelial cells （BMECs）-rat adrenal chromaffin cells PC12 co-culture system. METHODS The co-culture model of BMECs and PC12 cells was replicated in the Transwell chamber， and divided into control group， model group， butylphthalide group （positive control group， 0.1 mmol/L） and 3，4-DD group （0.1 μmol/L）. OGD/R injury model of the co-culture system was induced in those groups except for the control group. After preventively intervention in BMECs with relevant medicine or culture medium for 24 h， cell transendothelial electronic resistance （TEER） value， lactate dehydrogenase （LDH） activity， brain-derived neurotrophic factor （BDNF） level and mRNA expressions of TrkB， Plc-γ， Map-2， GAP-43 in PC12 cells was detected. RESULTS Compared with the control group， TEER of the co-culture model， LDH activity and BDNF level of PC12 cells were decreased significantly in the model group （P＜0.01）， while mRNA expressions of TrkB， Plc-γ， Map-2 and GAP-43 in PC12 cells were increased significantly （P＜0.01）. Compared with the model group， TEER of the co-culture model， LDH activity， BDNF level， and the mRNA expressions of TrkB， Plc-γ， Map-2 and GAP-43 in PC12 cells were increased significantly in the 3，4-DD group and butylphthalide group （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS 3，4-DD can relieve the damage of neuronal OGD/R by acting on BMECs， the mechanism of which may be associated with activating the BDNF/TrkB signaling pathway.