ABSTRACT
Aim To investigate the protective effect of riboflavin on ischemia brain damage and the mecha-nism.Methods The in vivo experiments were pro-cessed in male SD rats .Rats were randomly arranged into control group , model group and riboflavin group . The rats in riboflavin group were intraperitoneally in-jected riboflavin at the dose of 1 mg? kg -1 for seven consecutive days .Then the rats in model and riboflavin groups were carried out middle cerebral artery occlu-sion( MCAO) operation.After 24 h, all rats were sacri-ficed and the brain tissue was dissected to observe the infarct area, the edema and the ultrastructure damage . The brain tissue was dyed by triphenyl tetrazolium chloride .The brain edema was observed by the weight of ischemia-side semi-brain.The ultrastructure was ob-served by electron microscope .The in vitro experiments were processed in primary culture neurons by exposed to oxygen and glycose deprivation ( OGD) .The viability of neurons was assayed by MTT method .The enzyme activity of superoxide dismutase ( SOD) , catalase ( CAT)and glutathione peroxidase ( GSH-Px ) was assayed to explore the mechanism .Results Riboflavin signifi-cantly decreased the infarct area ( P<0.01 ) , inhibited the brain edema ( P <0.01 ) and inhibited the ultra-structure damage in rats after MCAO;riboflavin protec-ted the viability ( P <0.01 ) and the ultrastructure of neurons exposed to OGD .The enzyme activity of an-tioxidant SOD1 ( P <0.01 ) , CAT ( P <0.01 ) and GSH-Px ( P <0.01 ) was protected by riboflavin in MCAO model .No difference was found in the activity of SOD2 . Conclusion Riboflavin inhibits ischemia brain damage , and the protection of the activity of an-tioxidants is involved in the mechanism .