Anti-inflammatory effects of OBA-09, a salicylic acid/pyruvate ester, in the postischemic brain

Cerebral ischemia leads to brain injury via a complex series of pathophysiological events, and therefore, multi-drug treatments or multi-targeting drug treatments provide attractive options with respect to limiting brain damage. Previously, we reported that a novel multi-functional compound oxopropanoyloxy benzoic acid (OBA-09, a simple ester of pyruvate and salicylic acid) affords robust neuroprotective effects in the postischemic rat brain. OBA-09 exhibited anti-oxidative effects that appeared to be executed by OBA-09 and by the salicylic acid afforded by hydrolysis. Here, we report the anti-inflammatory effects of OBA-09. Microglial activation observed at 2 days post-middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO, 90 min) and at 1 day after a LPS injection (0.5 mg/kg, intravenously) in the brains of Sprague-Dawley rats were markedly suppressed by the administration of OBA-09 (10 mg/kg). Inductions of proinflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-1β, iNOS, and COX-2) were also suppressed by OBA-09 in both the LPS and MCAO models. Moreover, the anti-inflammatory effect of OBA-09 was accompanied by the suppression of infarct formation in the postischemic brain, but appeared to be independent of neuroprotection in LPS-treated rats. The inductions of proinflammatory markers were also inhibited by OBA-09 in LPS-treated BV2 cells (a microglia cell line) and in LPS-treated-primary neutrophils, possibly due to the suppression of NF-κB activity. Interestingly, the anti-inflammatory effect of OBA-09 was greater than that of equivalent co-treatment with pyruvate and salicylic acid. Together these results indicate that OBA-09 is a potent multi-modal neuroprotectant in the postischemic brain, and that its anti-inflammatory effect contributes to its neuroprotective function.