Liraglutide Ameliorates Cerebral Ischemia in Mice via Antipyroptotic Pathways

It was recently shown that pyroptosis, an inflammatory form of programmed cell death, is critically involved in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke. Liraglutide (Lg) is a novel long-acting analog of glucagon-like peptide-1 that has potential protective effects against stroke. However, the relationship between Lg and pyroptosis in the brain is not well defined. In this study, we found that injection of Lg significantly improved the recovery of motor function, increased cerebral blood flow and ameliorated cerebral damage in a mouse model of focal cerebral cortical ischemia. Our results revealed that Lg treatment significantly reduced the levels of NLRP3, Caspase1, IL-1β and the pore-forming protein gasdermin D in microglial cells in vitro, suggesting that the neuroprotective effect of Lg may be achieved through the inhibition of pyroptosis. Furthermore, by using a specific inhibitor of NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3), we confirmed that the antipyroptotic mechanism of Lg may be mediated by NLRP3 in vivo. Our present study unveils a novel neuroprotective mechanism through which Lg alleviates ischemia by exerting NLRP3-dependent antipyroptotic effects.