shikonin and Reperfusion-Injury

Hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, which can result in severe liver injury and dysfunction, occurs in a variety of conditions such as liver transplantation, shock, and trauma. Cell death in hepatic I/R injury has been linked to apoptosis and autophagy. Shikonin plays a significant protective role in ischemia/reperfusion injury. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the protective effect of shikonin on hepatic I/R injury and explore the underlying mechanism. Mice were subjected to segmental (70%) hepatic warm ischemia to induce hepatic I/R injury. Two doses of shikonin (7.5 and 12.5 mg/kg) were administered 2 h before surgery. Balb/c mice were randomly divided into four groups: normal control, I/R, and shikonin preconditioning at two doses (7.5 and 12.5 mg/kg). The serum and liver tissues were collected at three time points (3, 6, and 24 h). Shikonin significantly reduced serum AST and ALT levels and improved pathological features. Shikonin affected the expression of Bcl-2, Bax, caspase 3, caspase 9, Beclin-1, and LC3, and upregulated PI3K and p-Akt compared with the levels in the I/R group. Shikonin attenuated hepatic I/R injury by inhibiting apoptosis and autophagy through a mechanism involving the activation of PI3K/Akt signaling.

Topics: Animals; Apoptosis; Autophagy; Cytokines; Dimethyl Sulfoxide; Enzyme Activation; Hepatocytes; Inflammation Mediators; Liver; Liver Function Tests; Male; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Models, Biological; Naphthoquinones; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; Protective Agents; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; Reperfusion Injury; Signal Transduction

The aim of our study was to investigate the neuroprotective properties of shikonin, a naphthoquinone pigment isolated from the roots of the traditional Chinese herb Lithospermum erythrorhizon. In the present study, mice were divided randomly into sham, model, shikonin and edaravone-treated groups. Shikonin (50, 25, and 12.5mg/kg, i.g.) or maize oil was administered three times before ischemia and once at 2h after the onset of ischemia. Mice were anesthetized with chloral hydrate and subjected to middle cerebral artery 2h of occlusion and then 22h of reperfusion. Different antioxidant assays were employed in order to evaluate the antioxidant activities of shikonin in vitro. Neurological deficit, infarct size, histopathology changes and oxidative stress markers were evaluated after 22h of reperfusion. In comparison with the model group, treatment with shikonin significantly decreased neurological deficit scores, infarct size, the levels of malondialdehyde(MDA), carbonyl and reactive oxygen species, and attenuated neuronal damage, up-regulated superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities and reduced glutathione (GSH)/glutathione disulfide (GSSG) ratio. Taken together, these results suggested that the neuroprotective effects of shikonin against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury may be attributed to its antioxidant effects.

Topics: Animals; Antioxidants; Biomarkers; Brain Ischemia; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Glutathione; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery; Male; Malondialdehyde; Mice; Mitochondria; Naphthoquinones; Neuroprotective Agents; Oxidative Stress; Oxidoreductases; Protein Carbonylation; Random Allocation; Reactive Oxygen Species; Reperfusion Injury; Up-Regulation