Quercetin alleviates neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury by inhibiting microglia-derived oxidative stress and TLR4-mediated inflammation

Objective and design Microglia stimulated by oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) were treated with quercetin to investigate the effect on oxidative stress and the inflammatory response and to explore whether toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling was involved. In addition, the effect of quercetin on the neurological functions of neonatal mice with hypoxic-ischemic brain injury (HIBI) was examined. Materials and subjects Mouse BV2 microglial cells and postnatal day 7 neonatal mice were used. Treatment A predetermined concentration of quercetin was used in cell experiments. Quercetin was injected i.p. (50 mg/kg) at three time points after HI insult: 0, 24, and 48 h. Methods Cell viability assay, Western blotting, qRT-RCR, ELISA, HIBI model construction and behavioral tests. Results This study first showed that quercetin protected BV2 cells from OGD-induced damage and reversed the changes in microglial oxidative stress-related molecules. Second, quercetin inhibited OGD-induced expression of inflammatory factors in BV2 cells and suppressed TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling. Finally, quercetin was disclosed to be effective in mitigating cerebral infarct volume and cognitive and motor function deficits in HIBI mice. Conclusion These results suggest that the neuroprotective effect of quercetin in HIBI mice is partially due to the inhibition of oxidative stress and TLR4-mediated inflammatory responses in activated microglia.