Effects of estrogen on expression of P2X7 receptor and neuroinflammation after subarachnoid hemorrhage in rats / 中国免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the effect of estrogen on the expression of P2X7 receptor ( P2X7R) in the cerebral cortex and neuroinflammation after subarachnoid hemorrhage ( SAH) in rats.Methods:The rat model of SAH was induced by modified mono-filament puncture method.Sixty male SD rats were divided randomly into three groupssham group;SAH group and estrogen-treatment group.The local cerebral blood flow was detected with laser doppler blood flow meter.The content of tumor necrosis factor alpha ( TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured by ELISA analysis.The expression of P2X7R in the cerebral cortex was tested by immuno-histochemical and Western blot methods.Results:Compared with that in Sham group,cerebral blood flow was significantly decreased after SAH (P<0.05),the content of TNF-αand IL-6 in the cerebral cortex were significantly up-regulated at each time point after SAH (P<0.05),peaked at 24 h,and the expression of P2X7R significantly increased at 6 h,12 h and 24 h after SAH (P<0.05),peaked at 12 h.Compared with that in SAH group,cerebral blood flow was significantly increased in estrogen-treatment group (P<0.05),the levels of TNF-α,IL-6 and P2X7R were down-regulated in estrogen-treatment group ( P<0.05).Conclusion: Estrogen could attenuate neuroinflammation in the cerebral cortex after subarachnoid hemorrhage in rats, which may be associated with the down-regulation in P2X7R proteins.