Abstract:Objective To investigate the role of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 5 (ERK5) on Isoflurane posttreatment-mediated decrease of hippocampal injury in rat models of oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD). Methods Male SD rats were randomly divided into four groups: the normal control (Con) group, the OGD group, the XMD group, and the ISPOC group. Rats were anesthetized followed by harvest of the hippocampus for further preparation of tissue slices. Histological analysis of hippocampus was achieved by 2% 2, 3, 5 -triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining. Neuronal apoptosis in hippocampus CA1 region was analyzed by propidium iodide (PI) fluorescence staining. The expression level of ERK5 mRNA was determined by real-time fluorescent PCR. The ERK5 protein expression and phosphorylation were detected by Western blot. Results Compared with the Con group, the degree of hippocampal injury, apoptosis rate in hippocampal CA1 region and the expression levels of ERK5 mRNA and p -ERK5 in the OGD group were increased significantly (p < 0.05). In the XMD group, the expression levels of ERK5 mRNA and p -ERK5 were decreased, and the degree of tissue injury and the apoptosis rate in hippocampal CA1 region increased (p <0.05). Compared with the group 3.0% ISPOC, XMD8-92 independently diminished the expression of ERK5 mRNA and phosphorylation of ERK5 in the hippocampus, and enhanced tissue injury as well as apoptosis rate in the XMD+ISPOC group (p < 0.05). Conclusions The protective effect of Isoflurane posttreatment on hippocampal OGD injury in rats may be related to the upregulation of ERK5 mRNA and phosphorylation of ERK5.