Ibrutinib ameliorates cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury through autophagy activation and PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway in diabetic mice

Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) is involved in the diabetogenic process and cerebral ischemic injury. However, it remained unclear whether BTK inhibition has remedial effects on ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury complicated with diabetes. We aim to investigate the regulatory role and potential mechanism of ibrutinib, a selective inhibitor of BTK, in cerebral I/R injured diabetic mice. The cytotoxicity and cell vitality tests were performed to evaluate the toxic and protective effects of ibrutinib at different incubating concentrations on normal PC12 cells or which were exposed to high glucose for 24 h, followed by hypoxia and reoxygenation (H/R), respectively. Streptozotocin (STZ) stimulation-induced diabetic mice were subjected to 1 h ischemia and then reperfusion. Then the diabetic mice received different dosages of ibrutinib or vehicle immediately and 24 h after the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). The behavioral, histopathological, and molecular biological tests were then performed to demonstrate the neuroprotective effects and mechanism in I/R injured diabetic mice. Consequently, Ibrutinib improved the decreased cell viability and attenuated oxidative stress in the high glucose incubated PC12 cells which subjected to H/R injury. In the I/R injured diabetic mice, ibrutinib reduced the cerebral infarct volume, improved neurological deficits, ameliorated pathological changes, and improved autophagy in a slightly dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the expression of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway-related proteins were significantly upregulated by ibrutinib treatment. In summary, our finding collectively demonstrated that Ibrutinib could effectively ameliorate cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury via ameliorating inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and improving autophagy through PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway in diabetic mice.