Perinatal Hypoxia-Ischemia Reduces α7 Nicotinic Receptor Expression and Selective α7 Nicotinic Receptor Stimulation Suppresses Inflammation and Promotes Microglial Mox Phenotype

Inflammation plays a central role in neonatal brain injury. During brain inflammation the resident macrophages of the brain, the microglia cells, are rapidly activated. In the periphery, α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7R) present on macrophages can regulate inflammation by suppressing cytokine release. In the current study we investigated α7R expression in neonatal mice after hypoxia-ischemia (HI). We further examined possible anti-inflammatory role of α7R stimulation in vitro and microglia polarization after α7R agonist treatment. Real-time PCR analysis showed a 33% reduction in α7R expression 72 h after HI. Stimulation of primary microglial cells with LPS in combination with increasing doses of the selective α7R agonist AR-R 17779 significantly attenuated TNFα release and increased α7R transcript in microglial cells. Gene expression of M1 markers CD86 and iNOS, as well as M2 marker CD206 was not influenced by LPS and/or α7R agonist treatment. Further, Mox markers heme oxygenase (Hmox1) and sulforedoxin-1 (Srx1) were significantly increased, suggesting a polarization towards the Mox phenotype after α7R stimulation. Thus, our data suggest a role for the α7R also in the neonatal brain and support the anti-inflammatory role of α7R in microglia, suggesting that α7R stimulation could enhance the polarization towards a reparative Mox phenotype.