ABSTRACT
AIM:To explore the protective effects of atorvastatin on blood brain barrier (BBB) in cerebral is-chemia-reperfusion ( IR) injury and the potential mechanisms involved .METHODS: SD rats were divided into sham group, IR group and atorvastain group .Intraluminal suture method was used to establish cerebral IR model , and the ische-mic brain was reperfused for 72 h after the occlusion.The rats in atorvastatin group were administered with atorvastatin (20 mg? kg-1? d-1 ) by gavage once a day for 3 consecutive days after operation .At 72 h after reperfusion , neurological func-tion scores, the water content of the brain tissue , Evans blue (EB) content of ischemic hemisphere , the expression of tight junction ( TJ )-associated protein occludin and inflammation factor phosphatidylinositiol 3-kinase-p110 gamma ( PI3K-p110γ) were tested and analyzed .RESULTS: In IR group, the rats showed elevated neurological function scores ( P<0.01), brain tissue water content (P<0.01) and EB content (P<0.01), accompanied with the down-regulation of oc-cludin expression (P<0.01) and up-regulation of PI3K-p110γ(P<0.01) at 72 h after reperfusion.Compared with IR group, decreased brain edema (P<0.01) and EB leakage (P<0.01) were observed in atorvastatin group , accompanied with increased occludin expression (P<0.01) and decreased PI3K-p110γexpression (P<0.01).However, no statistical difference of the neurological function scores between the 2 groups was observed .CONCLUSION:Atorvastain attenuates cerebral IR injury , which may be associated with the inhibition of inflammatory reactions and the up -regulation of TJ-asso-ciated proteins to maintain the stability of BBB .