Neuroprotective Effects of Minocycline in Rat Brain Cortical Cell Culture Induced by Hypoxia

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: In vivo, minocycline appears to be neuroprotective. Thus, the neuroprotective effects of minocycline were studied in a rat brain cortical cell culture induced by hypoxia. METHODS: Cultured cells from the brains of Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two sets of groups normoxia groups treated with 5% CO2 and hypoxia groups treated with 1% CO2. After several days of incubation, the control groups were not treated with minocycline, while the sample groups were treated with either 1 or 10 g/mL of minocycline. The damaged cells were observed under a microscope, while apoptosis was detected using a TUNEL assay control-stained with DAPI. RESULTS: Among the normoxia groups, the control and sample groups treated with 1 and 10 g/mL of minocycline were all statistically significantly different from each other. Meanwhile, among the hypoxia groups, although the control was significantly different from the sample groups, there was no statistically significant difference between the sample groups. When comparing the normoxia and hypoxia groups, there was a statistically significant difference between the control groups and sample groups treated with 1 g/mL of minocycline, yet no significant difference between the sample groups treated with 10 g/mL of minocycline. CONCLUSION: Minocycline was found to be neuroprotective in normoxia and hypoxia induced rat brain cortical cell cultures.