Minocycline is effective in intracerebral hemorrhage by inhibition of apoptosis and autophagy.

BACKGROUND: Intracerebral hemorrhage is the least treatable type of stroke and affects millions of people worldwide. Treatment for ICH varies from medicine to surgery, but the rate of mortality and mobility still remains high. Minocycline is a tetracycline antibiotic increasingly recognized for its neuroprotective potential. In earlier studies, we demonstrated that many secondary injuries caused by ICH could be significantly reduced by injection of minocycline in rat models. The following research investigates the role of minocycline in reducing brain injury.

METHODS: Twenty-four rats were administered 100μl autologous arterial blood injections into the right basal ganglia, treated with minocycline or vehicle and euthanized on the 1st, 3rd, and 7th day. Immunohistochemistry, TUNEL, and western blot analysis were performed to analyze the effects of minocycline on apoptosis and autophagy.

RESULTS: After the injection of minocycline, TUNEL-positive cells were remarkably reduced on days 1, 3 and 7; Beclin-1, LC3BII/I, caspase-3/8 were all suppressed after treatment. The relationship between Cathepsin D and minocycline remained unknown.

CONCLUSIONS: Our studies suggest the potential medicinal value of minocycline, through both anti-autophagy and anti-apoptosis pathways.