Ginkgolide C attenuates cerebral ischemia/reperfusion-induced inflammatory impairments by suppressing CD40/NF-κB pathway

Ginkgo biloba L. (Ginkgoaceae), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been applied for thousands of years for the treatment of cardio-cerebral vascular diseases in China. It is written in Compendium of Materia Medica that Ginkgo has the property of “dispersing poison”, which is now referred to as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. Ginkgolides are important active ingredients in Ginkgo biloba leaves and ginkgolide injection has been frequently applied in clinical practice for the treatment of ischemic stroke. However, few studies have explored the effect and mechanism of ginkgolide C (GC) with anti-inflammatory activity in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury (CI/RI). The present study aimed to demonstrate whether GC was capable of attenuating CI/RI. Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory effect of GC in CI/RI was explored around the CD40/NF-κB pathway. In vivo, middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) model was established in rats. The neuroprotective effect of GC was assessed by neurological scores, cerebral infarct rate, microvessel ultrastructure, blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity, brain edema, neutrophil infiltration, and levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and iNOS. In vitro, rat brain microvessel endothelial cells (rBMECs) were preincubated in GC before hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) culture. The cell viability, levels of CD40, ICAM-1, MMP-9, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6, and activation of NF-κB pathway were examined. In addition, the anti-inflammatory effect of GC was also investigated by silencing CD40 gene in rBMECs. GC attenuated CI/RI as demonstrated by decreasing neurological scores, reducing cerebral infarct rate, improving microvessel ultrastructural features, ameliorating BBB disruption, attenuating brain edema, inhibiting MPO activity, and downregulating levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and iNOS. Coherently, in rBMECs exposed to H/R GC enhanced cell viability and downregulated levels of ICAM-1, MMP-9, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6. Furthermore, GC suppressed CD40 overexpression and hindered translocation of NF-κB p65 from the cytosol to the nucleus, phosphorylation of IκB-α, and activation of IKK-β in H/R rBMECs. However, GC failed to protect rBMECs from H/R-induced inflammatory impairments and suppress activation of NF-κB pathway when CD40 gene was silenced. GC attenuates cerebral ischemia/reperfusion-induced inflammatory impairments by suppressing CD40/NF-κB pathway, which may provide an available therapeutic drug for CI/R