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Introduction
Many physiological changes have been observed after peripheral nerve injury including degeneration of nerve cell, dedifferentiation, disintegration of axon, and dedifferentiation of Schwann cell (1). Peripheral nerve injury is a common disease in clinic practice and damage to the nervous system is impacting approximately 20 million people in United States (2). Nerve regeneration plays an important role after peripheral nerve injury in both the central and peripheral nervous systems (3). However, adult mammalian central nervous system axons generally do not regenerate or repair the damaged neuron (4). Therefore, exploring nerve regeneration strategies should invested, including a deep fundamental understanding of the nerve regeneration process and potential mechanism in the processes of natural regeneration of axon.
Berberine is an alkaloid extracted from plants, which presents antibiotic and anti-inflammatory effects (5). Currently, berberine also exerts neuroprotective effects and protects neurons against neurotoxicity by promoting axonal regeneration in the injured nerves of the peripheral nervous system (6). Findings have provided further understanding that berberine action highlighted the therapeutic potential in the treatment of a wide range of neurological disorders by decreasing the 4-AP-induced phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) and synapsin I (7). In addition, study has indicated that berberine increased the survival of hippocampal precursor cells and differentiated neurons by promoting neuronal differentiation (8). Furthermore, Study has reported that berberine has therapeutic ability for central nervous system disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and cerebral ischemia. However, the potential mechanism mediated by berberine in nerve regeneration has not been investigated.
In the present study, we investigated the role of berberine in nerve regeneration and analyzed the potential mechanism mediated by berberine in hippocampal pyramidal neurons. We also evaluated the role of berberine on growth, viability and apoptosis of hippocampal pyramidal neurons.
Materials and methods
Animals study
A total of 12 male facial nerve axotomy injury mice model (9) (C57BL/6, 8 weeks old, body weight, 20–25 g) was obtained from the Experimental Animal Center of Jinzhou Medical University. All experiments were conducted under the supervision and with the approval of the Ethic Committee of the Second Hospital of Jilin University (approval no: TSHJLU20140521X). All mice were housed at 23±1°C, 50±5% humidity with a 12-h light/dark cycle and free access to food and water. All mice...