OBJECTIVETo study the activation of extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) after focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion in rats and the effect of sodium ferulate (SF) on it.

METHODSForty-five male adult SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups, the sham-operated group, the control group and the SF group. The model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was established by thread ligation method, and in the ischemic phase, to rats in the sham-operated and the control group 4 ml of normal saline was intraperitoneally injected, and to rats in the SF group, 100 mg/kg of SF dissolved in 4 ml of normal saline was injected. The rats were decapitated at 2 hrs, 6 hrs, 12 hrs, 24 hrs and 72 hrs after reperfusion, 3 rats of every group at each time point, and rats brains were taken for immunohistochemistry and histopathological examination.

RESULTSHistopathological examination showed that the cerebral ischemic damage in the SF group was significantly milder than that in the control group at 2 hrs after reperfusion. The cerebral ischemia induced ERK activation reached the peak at 6 hrs and maintained to 72 hrs after reperfusion. As compared with the control group, the ERK activation in the SF group was significantly enhanced with increased positive immune reacted cells (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONCerebral ischemia/reperfusion could induce the activation of ERK in the ischemic brain cells, intervention of SF could enhance the activation and alleviate the ischemic injury in cerebral cortex.