Grape-Seed-Derived Procyanidin Attenuates Chemotherapy-Induced Cognitive Impairment by Suppressing MMP-9 Activity and Related Blood-Brain-Barrier Damage

(1) Background: Chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (CICI) is often observed in cancer patients and impairs their life quality. Grape-seed-orientated procyanidin has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects, yet its effects in preventing CICI have not been investigated. (2) Method: Adult male mice received 2.3 mg/kg cisplatin or saline injections for three cycles consisting of five daily injections followed by 5 days of rest. Procyanidin or saline was administered 1 h prior to cisplatin treatment. Cognitive testing, gelatin zymography, and blood-brain-barrier (BBB) penetration tests were performed after treatment cessation. RAW264.7 cells were treated by stimulated supernatant of SHSY5Y cells. In addition, high-mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1) expression and MMP-9 activity were tested. (3) Results: Repeated cisplatin treatment increased BBB penetration, MMP-9 activity, impaired performance in contextual fear conditioning, and novel object recognition tasks. The knockout of MMP-9 rescues cognitive impairment and cisplatin-induced upregulation of HMGB1 in SHSY5Y cells. HMGB1/TLR4/IP3K/AKT signaling contributes to the increased MMP-9 activity in RAW264.7 cells. Procyanidin treatment attenuates MMP-9 activity, BBB damage, and CICI. (4) Conclusions: The results indicated that MMP-9 activation and BBB disruption is involved in CICI. Procyanidin may effectively alleviate the harmful effects of cisplatin.