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Effect of prior exposure to enriched environment on cellular apoptosis after experimental stroke

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Abstract

Background

Growing evidence, including our previous studies, has demonstrated that an enriched environment (EE) after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury improves neurofunctional recovery in rats. However, whether EE exposure prior to injury could play a neuroprotective role in stroke has seldom been investigated. In this study, we examined the neuroprotective effects of prior exposure to EE and investigated the potential anti-apoptotic effect in rats after cerebral I/R injury.

Methods and results

Rats were housed in EE or standard conditions (SC) for four weeks and then randomly assigned to receive 120 min of right middle cerebral occlusion (MCAO) or sham operation. Based on the housing environment and the procedure they underwent, the rats were divided into the following three groups: preischemic EE + MCAO (PIEE), preischemic SC + MCAO (PISC) and preischemic SC + sham-operated (sham). Forty-eight hours after the operation, the rats were subjected to a series of assessments. We found that prior exposure to EE improved functional outcomes, reduced infarct volume and attenuated histological damage. The apoptotic cell numbers in the ischemic penumbra cortex decreased in PIEE group, as did the p53, PUMA, Bax and AIF expression levels. The protein expression of Bcl-2 and HSP70 was increased in the PIEE group compared with the PISC group. PIEE treatment also significantly increased the BDNF level in the ischemic penumbra. In addition, inhibition of cell apoptosis and upregulation of BDNF expression levels were correlated with the improved functional recovery of MCAO rats.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that EE preconditioning inhibited cell apoptosis and upregulated BDNF expression in the penumbra of MCAO rats, which may contribute to neurofunctional recovery after stroke.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was financially supported by Jiangxi Provincial Natural Science Foundation (20202BABL216034) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.82002401, No.81902304).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, 17 Yongwai Street, Nanchang, 330006, Jiangxi, China

    Xiuping Chen

  2. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Street, Wuhan, 430071, Hubei, China

    Xin Zhang

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  1. Xiuping Chen
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Xiuping Chen designed and conducted the experiments and wrote the original draft. Xin Zhang analyzed the data and revised the original draft. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xin Zhang.

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All the authors declare that there is no conflict of interests.

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The protocol was approved by the Animal Experimental Committee of Wuhan University at Wuhan, China (No. WP2020-08059).

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Chen, X., Zhang, X. Effect of prior exposure to enriched environment on cellular apoptosis after experimental stroke. Mol Biol Rep 49, 6541–6551 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-022-07494-y

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