Effects of different doses of progesterone on MMP-9 and NF-κB in cerebral hemorrhage in male rats / 医学研究生学报

ABSTRACT

Objective There are few studies on whether progesterone has neuroprotective effects on cerebral hemorrhage. This study aimed to observe the effects of different doses of progesterone on Matrix metalloproteinase-9（MMP-9）and Nuclear factor-κB （NF-κB）in cerebral hemorrhage in male rats, and to explore the neuroprotective effects and possible mechanism of progesterone on cerebral hemorrhage in rats. Methods We randomly divided 174 adult male rats into six groups of equal number with random number table. The models of cerebral hemorrhage were established. The low-, medium- and high-dose progesterone groups were administered with progesterone 4, 8, 16 mg/kg, respectively. The rats in the sham operation and model groups were given same volume of normal saline. We detected the expression of MMP-9 and NF-κB in the brain tissue of each group by Western blotting at 3 days. Moreover, we used the other rats to obtain the neurological severity scores（NSS），and measure the water content of brain tissue. Furthermore, we detected the expressions of MMP-9 and NF-κB by immunohistochemistry at 1, 3 and 7 days. Results The low-, medium- and high-dose progesterone groups could all improve the neurological function of rats after cerebral hemorrhage, and the middle dose group showed the best effects（P<0.05）. Moreover, the low-, medium- and high-dose progesterone groups can reduce the expression of MMP-9 and NF-κB, and the middle dose group also indicated the best effects （P<0.05）. Conclusion Progesterone might improve the neurological function and reduce edema in rats after cerebral hemorrhage, which may be related to the decrease of MMP-9 and NF-κB expression.