Neuroprotective Effects of Stiripentol on Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation in Primary Culture of Fetal Mice Cortical Neurons

Excessive activation of NMDA receptors in ischemic injury as well as reduction of GABAergic system leads to discrepancies of ionic homeostasis and neuronal death. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of stiripentol (0.01, 0.1, 1, 5, 10, 30 µM) as a GABAA receptor agonist on primary cortical culture of mice on 4 h oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD).
After 24h of incubation of neuronal cells with stiripentol, the cells were transferred to glucose-free DMEM (Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium) and were exposed to 4h hypoxia in a small anaerobic chamber and incubated in standard condition for 24h. Cell viability was evaluated by MTT assay.
The results showed that different concentrations of stiripentol could increase the cell viability after 4h OGD Recovery (OGD/R). However, the protective effect of stiripentol was lower than the control group (the cells did not expose to OGD/R).
Our results indicated that stiripentol could be a potential drug for treatment of brain ischemic condition. However, additional studies are needed to evaluate the mechanims of strripentol effect.