4-methylumbilliferon (4-MU) as a Potential Treatment Against Cerebral ischemia and Reperfusion Injury in Rats; An Experimental Study

Introduction: Ischemic stroke (IS) is one of the three main fatal disorders and is a major health challenge. 4-methylumbelliferone (4-MU) is one of the coumarin derivatives (7–hydroxy‐4–methylcoumarin) with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory impact. This study was conducted to elucidate the neuroprotective effects and anti-inflammatory impact of 4-MU in a rodent model of IS. Methods: The IS model was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 1 hour and reperfusion was established for 24 hours. 44 Male Wistar rats were assigned into four groups: (1) Sham, (2) MCAO (3) MCAO + Vehicle, and (4) MCAO + 4-MU (25 mg/kg). Evaluation of neurological deficit was performed using Garcia's score. 2,3,5-triphenoyl-2H-tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining was employed to measure infarct size. Nissl staining was applied to determine neuronal loss. Moreover, western blotting was utilized to detect the expression of the proteins relevant to the TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 axis (p–NF–κB p65, TLR4, NLRP3, IL-1β, IL-10, IL-18, ASC, and Caspase-1). Results: It was observed that MCAO caused neurological deficit (P