Efficacy of ferulic acid in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke injury in rats: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Jiashan Wang; Meiqi Tang; Xiuzhen Xie; Yingqi Xu; Pingping Su; Zhuqing Jin

doi:10.3389/fphar.2023.1278036

Efficacy of ferulic acid in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke injury in rats: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Front Pharmacol. 2023 Oct 19:14:1278036. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1278036. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jiashan Wang¹, Meiqi Tang², Xiuzhen Xie³, Yingqi Xu⁴, Pingping Su¹, Zhuqing Jin⁵

Affiliations

¹ The Third School of Clinical Medicine, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.
² Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
³ The First School of Clinical Medicine, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.
⁴ The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.
⁵ School of Basic Medicine Sciences, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.

Abstract

Background: Intravenous thrombolysis is commonly used in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke damage. The existing thrombolytic drugs still suffer significant shortcomings, including a limited fibrin specificity and bleeding complications. Ferulic acid can directly bind the key thrombus enzymes and target to blood clots, suggesting its thrombolytic potency that may be beneficial with thrombolytic potency for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke damage. Objective: The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the efficacy of ferulic acid in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke injury in rats and its potential mechanism of action. Materials and methods: We conducted a literature search in six databases, including CNKI, up to July 2023. Results: Sixteen trials were included in the meta-analysis, which demonstrated that ferulic acid significantly reduced infarct size, neurological deficit score, apoptosis index, cleaved caspase-3, and cytochrome C levels (all p < 0.05). In addition, ferulic acid significantly increased the levels of phosphorylated Akt, mitochondrial Bcl-xL/Bax, phosphorylated astrocyte PEA15, hippocampal calcium binding protein, and mitochondrial Bcl-2/Bax ratio (all p < 0.05). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that ferulic acid protects against acute ischemic stroke injury in rats by inhibiting ischemia-induced excitotoxicity, inflammatory response, and apoptosis.

Keywords: acute ischemic stroke injury; apoptosis; excitotoxicity; ferulic acid; inflammatory response; meta-analysis.

Publication types

Systematic Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China No. 81774010.