Epileptic seizures are characterized by synchronized discharges of neurons, leading to the activation of inflammatory responses that in turn contributes to seizure progression. Berberine (BBR), a bioactive constituent extracted from berberis, has been known to relieve seizures in rodent models. In this study, we synthesized two derivatives of berberine (BBR-D1 and BBR-D2) to compare their seizure reducing effect with BBR in pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced seizures in zebrafish. We found a structure-activity relationship between hydrophilic/hydrophobic composition of the derivatives and their anticonvulsant activity. We also investigated the underlying mechanism related to their anti-inflammatory effect during seizures. BBR and its derivatives increased the seizure onset latency and suppressed the seizure-like behavior after PTZ treatment. Zebrafish larvae pretreated with BBR and its derivatives showed recovery on c-fos expression and neuronal discharges during seizures. The inflammatory responses occurred during the progression of seizures, including the recruitment of macrophages and neutrophils as well as an up-regulation of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), interleukin 1 beta (il1β), and interleukin 6 (il6). This effect was significantly suppressed by the pretreatment of BBR and its derivatives. Our results suggest that BBR and its derivatives attenuate PTZ-induced seizures and modulate anti-inflammatory effect to potentially protect zebrafish from the occurrence of further seizures. From the tested compounds, BBR-D1 (the hydrophilic berberrubine) showed the strongest seizure reducing effect.
癫痫发作的特点是神经元的同步放电,导致炎症反应的激活,进而促进癫痫的进展。
小檗碱(BBR)是一种从小檗属植物中提取的
生物活性成分,已知在啮齿动物模型中缓解癫痫发作。在本研究中,我们合成了两种
小檗碱衍
生物(BBR-D1和BBR-D2),以比较它们与BBR在五亚
甲基四唑(
PTZ)诱导的斑马鱼癫痫发作中的抗惊厥效果。我们发现了衍
生物的亲
水/疏
水组成与其抗惊厥活性之间的构效关系。我们还研究了它们在癫痫发作期间抗炎作用的相关机制。BBR及其衍
生物延长了癫痫发作的潜伏期,并抑制了
PTZ治疗后的癫痫样行为。预先使用BBR及其衍
生物处理的斑马鱼幼体在癫痫发作期间显示出c-fos表达和神经元放电的恢复。癫痫进展期间的炎症反应包括巨噬细胞和中性粒细胞的招募以及肿瘤坏死因子α(TNFα)、白细胞介素1β(IL1β)和白细胞介素6(IL6)的上调。这种效应被BBR及其衍
生物的预处理显著抑制。我们的结果表明,BBR及其衍
生物减轻
PTZ诱导的癫痫发作,并通过调节抗炎作用可能保护斑马鱼免受进一步癫痫发作的发生。在测试的化合物中,BBR-D1(亲
水性
小檗红碱)显示出最强的癫痫发作减轻效果。