Inter-alpha Inhibitor Proteins Modulate Microvascular Endothelial Components and Cytokines After Exposure to...

Inter-alpha inhibitor proteins (IAIPs) are neuroprotective and attenuate lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-mediated blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption in neonatal rodents. We investigated some mechanism(s) fundamental to neuroprotection by IAIPs including changes in cerebral endothelial components and inflammation. Postnatal day-7 rats exposed to sham surgery and placebo or carotid ligation plus 8% FiO₂ (90 min) were given IAIPs (30 or 60 mg/kg) or placebo and were killed 6, 12, 24, or 36 h after hypoxia-ischemia (HI). Proteins regulating BBB permeability to leukocytes (vascular cell adhesion molecule 1, VCAM-1), lipid-soluble (P-glycoprotein, PGP), and lipid-insoluble molecules (zonula occludens-1, ZO-1) were measured by immunoblot, and cytokines were measured in serum and cortex. HI resulted in reductions in ZO-1 and increases in VCAM-1, PGP, interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin-12 (IL-12), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), IL-α, and macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) in cortex and increases in IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) in serum. IAIPs attenuated the reductions in ZO-1 and delayed increases in VCAM-1 and PGP in cortex and attenuated increases in cytokines in serum (IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, IFN-γ, G-CSF) and cortex (IL-1α, IL-12, IFN-γ, VEGF, M-CSF) after HI. We conclude that vascular endothelial proteins and cytokines exhibit sequential changes after HI and IAIPs modulate some of these HI-related changes in neonatal rats.