Bererine induces peripheral lymphocytes immune regulations to realize its neuroprotective effects in the cerebral ischemia/reperfusion mice

Previous studies have shown that Bererine (Ber) has significant neuroprotective effects and the present article aimed to investigate its mechanism from the aspect of peripheral immune system. We evaluated the effects of Ber 24 h after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) on histologic injury in BALB/C mice and NOD-SCID (severe combined immunodeficient) mice lacking T and B cells. Infarct volume, neurological scores and brain water content were strikingly reduced by Ber in BALB/C mice versus NOD-SCID mice. Which suggested that Ber induces peripheral immune regulations to realize its neuroprotective effects in the cerebral I/R mice. Then we tested the lymphocytes from BALB/C lymph nodes (LNs) with their survival, activation, proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis and differentiation induced by cytokine secretion to provide direct evidences that Ber realized its neuroprotective effects by regulating I/R-induced peripheral lymphocytes early immunoactivation and following immunotolerance and to better understand the importance of peripheral immune system following I/R insults.