Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Protective effect of remimazolam on neuronal cells from OGD/R-induced damage: An in vitro study

Xianwen Wan¹, Haixia Gong² , Hongxia Leng³, Yulian Zhang³,

¹Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province 330006, China; ²Department of Anesthesiology and Operative Medicine, Medical Center of Anesthesiology and Pain, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province 330052, China; ³The First Clinical Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province 330031, China.

For correspondence:- Haixia Gong Email: gonghaixia3092601@163.com Tel:+8613870891388

Accepted: 24 February 2024 Published: 31 March 2024

Citation: Wan X, Gong H, Leng H, Zhang Y, Protective effect of remimazolam on neuronal cells from OGD/R-induced damage: An in vitro study. Trop J Pharm Res 2024; 23(3):537-542 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v23i3.7

© 2024 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the effect of remimazolam (Re) on oxygen glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) model, and to elucidate the mechanism of action.

Methods: The neuron cells were treated with OGD/R. MTT assays were performed to confirm The effect of Re on cell viability was assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, while flow cytometry (FCM) assay was conducted to determine the apoptosis of OGD/R cells. Immunostaining assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to evaluate the effects of Re on mitochondria damage, while immunoblot assay was used unravel its mechanism of action.

Results: Remimazolam (Re) significantly enhanced OGD/R-induced neuronal survival (p < 0.05). In addition, it significantly inhibited OGD/R-induced neuronal apoptosis, and OGD/R-induced neuron mitochondrial damage. Furthermore, it suppressed MAPK pathway in OGD/R-induced neuron, thus protecting the neuronal cells from OGD/R-induced damage (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Remimazolam protects neuronal cells from OGD/R-induced damage by mediating MAPK pathway. Therefore, it is a potential drug for the management of Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). However, in vivo studies are required to buttress this.

Keywords: Remimazolam, Oxygen glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R), Apoptosis, Mitochondrial damage, MAPK pathway, Ischemia-reperfusion injury