Influence of the antioxidant quercetin in vivo on the level of nitric oxide determined by electron paramagnetic resonance in rat brain during global ischemia and reperfusion

We characterized the changes in nitric oxide (NO) levels in the brain during global forebrain ischemia and reperfusion and tested the ability of the natural flavonoid, quercetin, and a synthetic flavonoid, FB277, to increase the amount of available NO by elimination of the superoxide radicals produced during reperfusion. In Sprague–Dawley rats, we used a four-vessel occlusion model of forebrain ischemia (15 min) and reperfusion (30 min). Brain NO was measured on samples of cerebral cortex and cerebellum ex vivo by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The spin trap used was diethyldithiocarbamate sodium salt (DETC) associated with ferrous citrate. The complex Fe(DETC) 2NO was detected at 77 K as a triplet signal at g = 2.035. Groups of animals were treated with quercetin or FB277 (3-morpholinomethyl-3′,4′,5,7-tetramethoxyflavone) or polyethylene glycol-conjugated superoxide dismutase (PEG-SOD). In control (intact anesthetized animals), the signal was about 3 times greater in the cortex than in the cerebellum. During ischemia, the signal rose to 110% in cortex (NS) and 283% in cerebellum ( P < 0.05). In reperfusion, it fell again to 91% of control in cerebellum (NS) and 35% in cortex ( P < 0.05). Treatment by quercetin (5 mg/kg i.v.) of intact and ischemia-reperfusion groups did not significantly change the signal amplitude in the cerebellum, but did double it in the cortex (to 76% of control) for the ischemia-reperfusion group ( P < 0.05). In contrast, FB277 (3.75 mg/kg i.v.) did not increase the signal in the cortex during ischemia-reperfusion, but did do so in the cerebellum (to 152% of control, P < 0.05). The results obtained for PEG-SOD (10,000 U/kg i.v.) were similar to those for FB277. In separate in vitro measurements, we found that quercetin but not FB277 efficiently scavenged superoxide. We hypothesize that quercetin but not FB277 scavenged superoxide anions released in the cortex during reperfusion, thus diminishing the amount of NO removed by the formation of peroxynitrite. The lack of effect of PEG-SOD may be related to the need for chronic treatment to obtain protection.