Troxerutin Counteracts Domoic Acid–Induced Memory Deficits in Mice by Inhibiting CCAAT/Enhancer Binding Protein β–Mediated Inflammatory Response and Oxidative Stress

The C/EBP β is a basic leucine zipper transcription factor that regulates a variety of biological processes, including metabolism, cell proliferation and differentiation, and immune response. Recent findings show that C/EBP β-induced inflammatory responses mediate kainic acid-triggered excitotoxic brain injury. In this article, we show that protein kinase C ζ enhances K-ras expression and subsequently activates the Raf/MEK/ERK1/2 pathway in the hippocampus of domoic acid (DA)-treated mice, which promotes C/EBP β expression and induces inflammatory responses. Elevated production of TNF-α impairs mitochondrial function and increases the levels of reactive oxygen species by IκB kinase β/NF-κB signaling. The aforementioned inflammation and oxidative stress lead to memory deficits in DA-treated mice. However, troxerutin inhibits cyclin-dependent kinase 1 expression, enhances type 1 protein phosphatase α dephosphorylation, and abolishes MEK/ERK1/2/C/EBP β activation, which subsequently reverses the memory impairment observed in the DA-treated mice. Thus, troxerutin is recommended as a potential candidate for the prevention and therapeutic treatment of cognitive deficits resulting from excitotoxic brain damage and other brain disorders.