Myrica rubra (MR) is rich in anthocyanins, and it has good anti-cancer, anti-aging, antioxidant, and antiviral effects. The proportion of disability and death caused by ischemic stroke gradually increased, becoming a major disease that is harmful to human health. However, research on effects of anthocyanin from MR on cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is rare. In this study, we prepared eight purified anthocyanin extracts (PAEs) from different types of MR, and examined the amounts of total anthocyanin (TA) and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (C-3-G). After one week of PAE treatment, the cerebral infarction volume, disease damage, and contents of nitric oxide and malondialdehyde were reduced, while the level of superoxide dismutase was increased in I/R mice. Altogether, our results show that Boqi¹ MR contained the most TA (22.07%) and C-3-G (21.28%), and that PAE isolated from Dongkui MR can protect the brain from I/R injury in mice, with the mechanism possibly related to the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/ nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and NOD-like receptor pyrin domain-containing 3 protein (NLRP3) pathways.
Keywords: Myrica rubra; NLRP3; TLR4/NF-κB; anthocyanins; cerebral ischemia-reperfusion; cyanidin-3-O-glucoside.