Liraglutide ameliorates cerebral ischemic injury in diabetic rats by regulating microglia/macrophage polarization through inhibition of NOX2 expression

Objective To investigate the effects of liraglutide (Lir) on microglia/macrophage polarization and on the expression of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase (NOX2) in the ischemic brain tissue of diabetic rats with focal cerebral ischemia. Method Seventy-five rats were randomly and equally divided into 5 groups: cerebral ischemia (CI) group, diabetes+cerebral ischemia (DCI) group, insulin treatment (Ins) group, Lir treatment (Lir) group, and NOX2 agonist tetrabromocinnamic acid (TBCA) + Lir group (TBCA). On the 3rd day after cerebral ischemia, the neurological deficit scores of the rats were evaluated, and 2, 3, 5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining was adopted to measure the cerebral infarct volume in each group. The co-labeling of CD16/32 and CD206 with Iba1 on microglia/macrophages were detected by immunofluorescence double-label staining, and the protein expression of NOX2, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-10 and TGF-β were determined using Western blotting. Results As compared with the DCI group,