Abstract
Oxygen–glucose deprivation and reoxygenation (OGD/R)-induced impairment of astrocytes may lead to neuronal dysfunction in the central nervous system (CNS). Apremilast is a phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) inhibitor primarily used for the treatment of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis that has demonstrated certain neuroprotective properties. PDE4 is an isoenzyme that degrades 3′-5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), which serves as a neuroprotective agent by promoting neuronal recovery through protein kinase (PKA)-mediated phosphorylation of cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) and subsequent expression of the neurotrophic factor brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and anti-apoptotic B cell lymphoma (Bcl-2). However, the effects of apremilast in astrocytes have not been elucidated. In the present study, we employed an in vitro model of ischemic stroke using oxygen–glucose deprivation and reoxygenation (OGD/R)-challenged astrocytes to investigate the effects of apremilast against apoptosis (the flow cytometry assay), cell death (the lactate dehydrogenase release assay), oxidative stress (2′, 7′ dichlorofluorescin diacetate staining), and the expression of the key neuroprotective factors CREB and BDNF (Western blot analysis). Our findings show that treatment with apremilast could significantly reduce astrocyte apoptosis and cell death induced by OGD/R as evidenced by reduced release of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and improvement of the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. The results of MTT assay, measurement of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, and flow cytometry confirmed the improvement in cell viability mediated by apremilast. Importantly, we found that CREB phosphorylation was required for the increases in BDNF and Bcl-2 induced by apremilast as well as the decrease in astrocyte apoptosis. These preliminary findings indicate that apremilast may have the potential to prevent astrocyte cell death and promote neuronal healing in cerebral ischemic injury. Further in vivo research will expand our understanding of these promising results.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aboutaleb N, Shamsaei N, Rajabi H, Khaksari M, Erfani S, Nikbakht F, Motamedi P, Shahbazi A (2016) Protection of hippocampal CA1 neurons against ischemia/reperfusion injury by exercise preconditioning via modulation of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and prevention of caspase-3 activation. Basic and Clinical Neuroscience 7(1):21
Brott T, Bogousslavsky J (2000) Treatment of acute ischemic stroke. N Engl J Med 343(10):710–722
Cauli A, Porru G, Piga M, Vacca A, Dessole G, Mathieu A (2014) Clinical potential of apremilast in the treatment of psoriatic arthritis. Immunotargets Ther 3:91
Ennen CS, Huisman TA, Savage WJ, Northington FJ, Jennings JM, Everett AD, Graham EM (2011) Glial fibrillary acidic protein as a biomarker for neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy treated with whole-body cooling. Am J Obstet Gynecol 205(3):251-e1
Feng H, Wang C, He W, Wu X, Li S, Zeng Z, Wei M, He B (2019) Roflumilast ameliorates cognitive impairment in APP/PS1 mice via cAMP/CREB/BDNF signaling and anti-neuroinflammatory effects. Metab Brain Dis 34(2):583–91
Frimodig J, Matheson PJ, Matheson A, McClain CJ (2019) Phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor rolipram inhibits neutrophil recruitment in liver ischemia reperfusion injury by mechanisms not obviously dependent on cytokines/chemokines. Gastroenterology 156(6):S1197–S1198
Imam F, Al-Harbi NO, Al-Harbi MM, Qamar W, Aljerian K, Belali OM, Alsanea S, Alanazi AZ, Alhazzani K (2019) Apremilast ameliorates carfilzomib-induced pulmonary inflammation and vascular injuries. Int Immunopharmacol 66:260–6
Imam F, Al-Harbi NO, Al-Harbi MM, Ansari MA, Almutairi MM, Alshammari M, Almukhlafi TS, Ansari MN, Aljerian K, Ahmad SF (2016) Apremilast reversed carfilzomib-induced cardiotoxicity through inhibition of oxidative stress, NF-κB and MAPK signaling in rats. Toxicol Mech Methods 26(9):700–8
Imam F, Al-Harbi NO, Al-Harbi MM, Ansari MA, Al-Asmari AF, Ansari MN, Al-Anazi WA, Bahashwan S, Almutairi MM, Alshammari M, Khan MR (2018) Apremilast prevent doxorubicin-induced apoptosis and inflammation in heart through inhibition of oxidative stress mediated activation of NF-κB signaling pathways. Pharmacol Rep 70(5):993–1000
Joe IS, Cho GW, 2016 PDE4 inhibition by rolipram promotes neuronal differentiation in human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Cellular Reprogramming (Formerly" Cloning and Stem Cells"). 18(4):224–9
Keating GM (2017) Apremilast: a review in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Drugs 77(4):459–72
Kalogeris T, Baines CP, Krenz M, Korthuis RJ, 2012 Cell biology of ischemia/reperfusion injury. Int Rev Cell Mol Biol 298:229–317. Academic Press
Liu Z, Chopp M (2016) Astrocytes, therapeutic targets for neuroprotection and neurorestoration in ischemic stroke. Prog Neurobiol 144:103–20
Man HW, Schafer P, Wong LM, Patterson RT, Corral LG, Raymon H, Blease K, Leisten J, Shirley MA, Tang Y, Babusis DM (2009) Discovery of (S)-N-{2-[1-(3-ethoxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-2-methanesulfonylethyl]-1, 3-dioxo-2, 3-dihydro-1 H-isoindol-4-yl} acetamide (apremilast), a potent and orally active phosphodiesterase 4 and tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitor. J Med Chem 52(6):1522–4
Niu L, Zhou J, Huang Y, Chen Y, Li C (2010) db-Cyclic adenosine monophosphate promotes axon regeneration and motor function recovery in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion rats. Neurol India 58(2):195
Nour M, Scalzo F, Liebeskind DS (2012) Ischemia-reperfusion injury in stroke Interventional neurology 1(3–4):185–99
Paterniti I, Mazzon E, Gil C, Impellizzeri D, Palomo V, Redondo M, Perez DI, Esposito E, Martinez A, Cuzzocrea S, 2011 PDE 7 inhibitors: new potential drugs for the therapy of spinal cord injury. PLoS One. 6(1)
Pardo L, Schlüter A, Valor LM, Barco A, Giralt M, Golbano A, Hidalgo J, Jia P, Zhao Z, Jové M, Portero-Otin M (2016) Targeted activation of CREB in reactive astrocytes is neuroprotective in focal acute cortical injury. Glia 64(5):853–74
Pardo L, Valor LM, Eraso-Pichot A, Barco A, Golbano A, Hardingham GE, Masgrau R, Galea E (2017) CREB regulates distinct adaptive transcriptional programs in astrocytes and neurons. Sci Rep 7(1):1–4
Rahman I, Kode A, Biswas SK (2006) Assay for quantitative determination of glutathione and glutathione disulfide levels using enzymatic recycling method. Nat Protoc 1:3159–3165
Schafer PH, Parton A, Capone L, Cedzik D, Brady H, Evans JF, Man HW, Muller GW, Stirling DI, Chopra R (2014) Apremilast is a selective PDE4 inhibitor with regulatory effects on innate immunity. Cell Signal 26(9):2016–29
Sommer CJ (2017) Ischemic stroke: experimental models and reality. Acta Neuropathol 133(2):245–61
Shi F, Dong Z, Li H, Liu X, Liu H, Dong R (2017) MicroRNA-137 protects neurons against ischemia/reperfusion injury through regulation of the Notch signaling pathway. Exp Cell Res 352(1):1–8
Schett G, Sloan VS, Stevens RM, Schafer P (2010) Apremilast: a novel PDE4 inhibitor in the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Therapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease 2(5):271–8
Schafer PH, Truzzi F, Parton A, Wu L, Kosek J, Zhang LH, Horan G, Saltari A, Quadri M, Lotti R, Marconi A (2016) Phosphodiesterase 4 in inflammatory diseases: effects of apremilast in psoriatic blood and in dermal myofibroblasts through the PDE4/CD271 complex. Cell Signal 28(7):753–63
Sheng B, Gong K, Niu Y, Liu L, Yan Y, Lu G, Zhang L, Hu M, Zhao N, Zhang X, Tang P, Gong Y (2009) Inhibition of gamma-secretase activity reduces Abeta production, reduces oxidative stress, increases mitochondrial activity and leads to reduced vulnerability to apoptosis: Implications for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Free Radic Biol Med 46(10):1362–75
Sullivan SM, Sullivan RK, Miller SM, Ireland Z, Björkman ST, Pow DV, Colditz PB (2012) Phosphorylation of GFAP is associated with injury in the neonatal pig hypoxic-ischemic brain. Neurochem Res 37(11):2364–78
Takano T, Oberheim N, Cotrina ML, Nedergaard M (2009) Astrocytes and ischemic injury. Stroke. 40(3_suppl_1):S8–12.
Thakur T, Sharma S, Kumar K, Deshmukh R, Sharma PL (2013) Neuroprotective role of PDE4 and PDE5 inhibitors in 3-nitropropionic acid induced behavioral and biochemical toxicities in rats. Eur J Pharmacol 714(1–3):515–21
Xiang Y, Du P, Zhang X, Biswas S, Jiao G, Liu H (2018) Acetylpuerarin inhibits oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced neuroinflammation of rat primary astrocytes via the suppression of HIF-1 signaling. Exp Ther Med 16(3):2689–95
Xu B, Qin Y, Li D, Cai N, Wu J, Jiang L, Jie L, Zhou Z, Xu J, Wang H (2020) Inhibition of PDE4 protects neurons against oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress through activation of the Nrf-2/HO-1 pathway. Redox biology 28:101342
Zuo D, Lin L, Liu Y, Wang C, Xu J, Sun F, Li L, Li Z, Wu Y (2016) Baicalin attenuates ketamine-induced neurotoxicity in the developing rats: Involvement of PI3K/Akt and CREB/BDNF/Bcl-2 pathways. Neurotox Res 30(2):159–72
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yin, H., Qin, H., Wang, T. et al. The Protective Effects of Apremilast Against Oxygen–Glucose Deprivation/Reperfusion (OGD/R)-Induced Inflammation and Apoptosis in Astroglia Mediated by CREB/BDNF. Neurotox Res 39, 754–763 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12640-021-00340-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12640-021-00340-2