Expression of angiotensin II and its receptors in activated microglia in experimentally induced cerebral ischemia in the adult rats

Expression of angiotensin II (Ang II) and its receptors (AT(1)/AT(2)) is undetected in the mature microglia in normal brain. We report here that the immunoexpression of Ang II and AT(1)/AT(2) was altered in activated microglia notably at 1 week in rats subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Immunolabeled activated microglia were widely distributed in the infarcted cerebral tissue after MCAO. By enzyme immunoassay, Ang II protein expression levels of the ischemic tissues were decreased drastically at 12 h after ischemia, then rose rapidly at 3 days and 1 week after MCAO when compared with the control. On the other hand, AT(1) and AT(2) receptor mRNA and protein levels were up-regulated after MCAO, peaking at 12 h, but declined thereafter. Expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) mRNA and protein levels was concomitantly increased. Edaravone significantly suppressed Ang II and AT(1)/AT(2) receptor expression as well as that of TNF-alpha and IL-1 beta suggesting that microglia-derived Ang II can act through an autocrine manner via its receptor that may be linked partly to the production of proinflammatory cytokines. We conclude that neuroinflammation in MCAO may be attenuated by Edaravone which acts through suppression of expression of Ang II and its receptors and proinflammatory cytokines in activated microglia.