Azithromycin reduces inflammation-amplified hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in neonatal rats

Authors
John D. E. Barks, Yiqing Liu, Ian A. Dopp & Faye S. Silverstein


Lab
Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan Medical School, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Journal
Pediatric Research

Abstract
Background

Systemic inflammation amplifies neonatal hypoxic-ischemic (HI) brain injury. Azithromycin (AZ), an antibiotic with anti-inflammatory properties, improves sensorimotor function and reduces tissue damage after neonatal rat HI brain injury. The objective of this study was to determine if AZ is neuroprotective in two neonatal rat models of inflammation-amplified HI brain injury.

Design/Methods

Seven-day-old (P7) rats received injections of toll-like receptor agonists lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or Pam3Cys-Ser-(Lys)4 (PAM) prior to right carotid ligation followed by 50 min (LPS + HI) or 60 min (PAM + HI) in 8% oxygen. Outcomes included contralateral forelimb function (forepaw placing; grip strength), survival, %Intact right hemisphere (brain damage), and a composite score incorporating these measures. We compared postnatal day 35 outcomes in controls and groups treated with three or five AZ doses. Then, we compared P21 outcomes when the first (of five) AZ doses were administered 1, 2, or 4 h after HI.

Results

In both LPS + HI and PAM + HI models, AZ improved sensorimotor function, survival, brain tissue preservation, and composite scores. Benefits increased with five- vs. three-dose AZ and declined with longer initiation delay.

Conclusions

Perinatal systemic infection is a common comorbidity of neonatal asphyxia brain injury and contributes to adverse outcomes. These data support further evaluation of AZ as a candidate treatment for neonatal neuroprotection.

Keywords/Topics
Azithromycin; inflammation;ischemic; stroke, rats

Source :

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41390-021-01747-5

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