Ginsenosides, the major bioactive compounds in ginseng root, have been found to have antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and anti-inflammatory activities. In the present study, we sought to investigate whether and how ginsenoside Rb1 (GS-Rb1), the most abundant ginsenoside, can protect blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity following cerebral ischemia in middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) animal model. ICR mice underwent MCAO and received GS-Rb1 by intraperitoneal injection at 3 h after reperfusion. We evaluated infarction, neurological scores, brain edema, Evans blue (EB) extravasation, and tight junction protein expression at 48 h after MCAO. We further examined whether GS-Rb1 protected BBB integrity by suppressing post-ischemic inflammation-induced activity of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase (NOX). First, GS-Rb1 decreased infarction and improved neurological deficits in MCAO animals. In addition, GS-Rb1 reduced EB extravasation and brain edema and preserved expression of tight junction proteins in the ischemic brain. Moreover, GS-Rb1 inhibited expression of pro-inflammatory factors including nitric oxide synthase and IL-1β, but increased expression of anti-inflammatory markers arginase 1 and IL-10 in the ischemic brain. Consistently, GS-Rb1 attenuated ischemia-induced expression and activity of MMP9. Finally, GS-Rb1 reduced NOX-4 mRNA expression and NOX activity in ischemic brain. These results suggest that GS-Rb1 protects loss of BBB integrity in ischemic stroke by suppressing neuroinflammation induction of MMP-9 and NOX4-derived free radicals, and indicate its potential for treating brain injuries, such as ischemia and stroke.
Keywords: Blood–brain barrier; Cerebral artery occlusion; Cerebral ischemia; Ginsenoside Rb1.