Effects of β-Caryophyllene on Inflammatory Response and TLR-4/NF-κB Signal Pathway in Rats with Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

The work investigated the protective effects of beta-caryophyllene pretreatment on cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (CIRI) in rats. One hundred and eight rats were randomly divided into shamoperated, control, low-, middle- and high-dose beta-caryophyllene and nimodipine groups. The low-, middleand high-dose beta-caryophyllene and nimodipine groups were administered with 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg beta-caryophyllene and 100 mg/kg nimodipine, respectively, for seven days. The CIRI control was prepared in control and treatment groups. After 24 h of CIRI, compared with control group, in beta-caryophyllene and nimodipine group the neurobehavioral scores, cerebral water content and cerebral infarction percentage were significantly decreased (p < 0.05), the brain tissue tumor necrosis factor a and interleukin 1 beta levels were significantly decreased (p < 0.05), and the brain tissue Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) p65 protein expression levels were significantly decreased (p < 0.05). beta-caryophyllene pretreatment can alleviate the neurological deficit symptoms and reduce the brain edema and cerebral infarction in CIRI rats. The mechanism may be related to its reducing the inflammatory response and inhibiting TLR-4/NF-kappa B signaling pathway.