Abstract: 13-Methyltetradecanoic acid can stabilize cell membrane and have anti-in?ammatory, antioxidant and anti-apoptotic effects. Previous studies mainly focused on peripheral nerve injury, but seldom on the central nervous system. We investigated whether these properties of 13-methyltetradecanoic acid have a neuroprotective effect on focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury, and detected the expression of basic fbroblast growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor. This study established rat models of middle cerebral artery occlusion/ reperfusion injury by ischemia for 2 hours and reperfusion for 24 hours. At the beginning of reperfusion, 13-methyltetradecanoic acid 10, 40 or 80 mg/kg was injected into the tail vein. Results found that various doses of 13-methyltetradecanoic acid effectively reduced infarct volume, mitigate cerebral edema, and increased the mRNA and protein expression of basic fbroblast growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor at 24 hours of reperfusion. The effect was most signifcant in the 13-methyltetradecanoic acid 40 and 80 mg/kg groups. The fndings suggest that 13-methyltetradecanoic acid can relieve focal ischemia/reperfusion injury immediately after reperfusion, stimulate the upregulation of basic fbroblast growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor to exert neuroprotective effects.

Key words: nerve regeneration, brain injury, 13-methyltetradecanoic acid, cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury, basic fibroblast growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, cerebral infarction, cerebral edema, neural regeneration