Abstract Quercetin has been documented to display positive effect on anti-oxidation and anti-inflammation. Ischemic stroke may produce a large number of reactive oxygen species so as to elevate oxidative damage. Appropriate essential trace element of iron (Fe) and antioxidant of superoxide dismutase (SOD) are required for the brain for maintaining normal brain functions. This study was to explore whether protective effect of quercetin in blood during ischemic stroke is correlated with reducing oxidative damage by declining malondialdehyde (MDA), iron (Fe), but enhancing SOD activity. Rats were intraperitoneally administered with quercetin (20 mg/kg) once daily for 10 days before stroke surgery. The surgery of ischemic stroke was conducted by ligation of the right middle cerebral artery and the right common carotid artery for 1 hour. After completing the brain surgery, the fresh whole blood was collected via directly performing cardiac puncture and the serum sample was harvested for further biochemical analysis. Our results showed that ischemic stroke obviously enhances MDA and Fe level but declines SOD activity as compared to the control group. By contrast, pretreatment of rats with quercetin before ischemic stroke significantly reverses these effects relative to the ligation subject. Accordingly, our findings indicate that ischemic stroke obviously promotes oxidative damage. However, quercetin can significantly turnovers these adverse effects. We infer that quercetin seems can exert its powerful antioxidant potential to protect stroke patients to ameliorate ROS-conducted oxidative damage.
Keywords Ischemic stroke ∙Quercetin ∙ Malondialdehyde ∙ Iron ∙Superoxide dismutase.