Post-ischemic estradiol treatment reduced glial response and triggers distinct cortical and hippocampal signaling in a rat model of cerebral ischemia

Male rats were subjected to pMCAO and estradiol (0.04？mg/kg) was administered 6, 24, and 48？h after surgery. The animals were sacrificed 6？h after the last treatment, and brain damage was evaluated by immunohistochemical quantification of ‘reactive gliosis’ using antibodies against GFAP and Iba1. In addition, Akt, phospho-AktSer473, phospho-AktThr308, GSK3, phospho-GSK3Ser21/9, β-catenin, SAPK-JNK, and pSAPK-JNKThr183/Tyr185 levels were determined in western blots of the ipsilateral cerebral cortex and hippocampus, and regional differences in neuronal phospho-Akt expression were determined by immunohistochemistry.The increases in the percentage of GFAP- (5.25-fold) and Iba1- (1.8-fold) labeled cells in the cortex and hippocampus indicate that pMCAO induced ‘reactive gliosis’. This effect was prevented by post-ischemic estradiol treatment; diminished the number of these cells to those comparable with control animals. pMCAO down-regulated the PI3K/AkT/GSK3/β-catenin survival pathway to different extents in the cortex and hippocampus, the activity of which was restored by estradiol treatment more efficiently in the cerebral cortex (the most affected region) than in the hippocampus. No changes in the phosphorylation of SAPK-JNK were observed 54？h after inducing pMCAO, whereas pMCAO did significantly decrease the phospho-AktSer473 in neurons, an effect that was reversed by estradiol.The present study demonstrates that post-pMCAO estradiol treatment attenuates ischemic injury in both neurons and glia, events in which the PI3K/AKT/GSK3/β-catenin pathway is at least partly involved. These findings indicate that estradiol is a potentially useful treatment to enhance recovery after human ischemic stroke.