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Efonidipine Exerts Cerebroprotective Effect by Down-regulation of TGF-β/SMAD-2-Dependent Signaling Pathway in Diabetic Rats

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A Correction to this article was published on 23 September 2021

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Abstract

Calcium overload and hyperglycemia are risks of stroke onset in diabetics. Our study was designed to elucidate the beneficial role of calcium channel blockers by targeting voltage-gated calcium channels in diabetes-associated cerebrovascular complications. Diabetes was induced using the neonatal streptozotocin rat model. After confirmation of diabetes, middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was carried out. The pre-treatment with 1 mg/kg/day efonidipine was administered for the period of 4 weeks. After 24 h of ischemic induction surgery, the neurological score was determined, and blood was collected for determination of biochemical parameters. Treatment with efonidipine showed a significant reduction in post-ischemic brain infract volume, brain hemisphere weight difference, neurological score, Na+-K+ ATPase activity, serum CK-MB, and LDH levels in normoglycemic and hyperglycemic MCAO-induced animals. While no significant changes in glucose and lipid levels were observed by treatment, efonidipine significantly decreased the levels of malondialdehyde, acetylcholine esterase, and nitrite levels and increased the levels of antioxidant markers in both normoglycemic and hyperglycemic MCAO animals. TGF-β and VEGF were found to be down-regulated after treatment with efonidipine in gene expression study. In conclusion, the study data supports the cerebroprotective role of efonidipine in diabetic animals possibly through TGF-β/SMAD-2 signaling pathway.

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Author notes

  1. Rashmi Rajput and Vishal Chavda contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Pharmacy, Nirma University, Ahmadabad, Gujarat, 382 481, India

    Rashmi Rajput, Vishal Chavda & Snehal S. Patel

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    George E. Barreto

  3. Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    George E. Barreto

  4. King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Ghulam Md Ashraf

  5. Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jedda, Saudi Arabia

    Ghulam Md Ashraf

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  1. Rashmi Rajput
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  2. Vishal Chavda
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  3. Snehal S. Patel
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Correspondence to Snehal S. Patel.

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The original online version of this article was revised: The original version of this article, published on 30 May 2021, unfortunately contained a mistake. Figure 1C image appears that some images have been inadvertently duplicated.

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Rajput, R., Chavda, V., Patel, S.S. et al. Efonidipine Exerts Cerebroprotective Effect by Down-regulation of TGF-β/SMAD-2-Dependent Signaling Pathway in Diabetic Rats. J Mol Neurosci 71, 1884–1896 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-021-01857-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-021-01857-z

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