Objective  To investigate the activated phenotype and the expression of the receptor of advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE) of astrocytes after hypoxicischemic brain damage(HIBD) in neonatal rats and the effects of gastrodin (GAS) intervention on them. Methods Totally 48 neonatal 3 days SD rats were used to construct HIBD model and randomly divided into sham group, HIBD group and HIBD+GAS group(100 mg/kg), and the expressions of A1 type astrocyte marker C3, A2 type astrocyte marker S100A10, RAGE, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF), and insulin-like growth factor(IGF-1) in the corpus callosum of the ischemic side were detected by Western blotting and immunohistochemical staining on day 1 and day 3 after HIBD.TNC-1 cells were divided into control group, oxygen glucose deprivation(OGD) group, OGD+GAS (0.34mmol/L) group and GAS group, and then the protein expressions of RAGE, TNF-α, BDNF and IGF-1 were detected by Western blotting and immunofluorescence. Results  In vivo, Western blotting showed that compared with the sham group, the protein expression levels of C3, S100A10, RAGE, TNF-α and IGF-1 in the 1 day and 3 days groups after HIBD group in 1 day group were significantly higher than those in the sham group (P <0.05), but the protein expression level of BDNF decreased in 1 day group and increased in 3 days group (P <0.05). Compared with the HIBD group, the C3, RAGE and TNF-α protein expression levels were significantly attenuated in the HIBD+GAS group (P <0.05), and the protein expression levels of BDNF and IGF-1 further increased(P<0.05). The protein expression of S100A10 in the 3 days group was higher than that in the HIBD group after GAS treatment (P<0.05). The immunohistochemical staining results of C3, S100A10, and RAGE in the 1 day and 3 days groups after HIBD were consistent with Western blotting results. Furthermore, the protein expressions of RAGE and TNF-α were significantly enhanced in OGD-stimulated astrocytes (P<0.05). After GAS intervention, while the expressions of both RAGE and TNF-α decreased significantly (P<0.05), the expressions of BDNF and IGF-1 increased significantly (P<0.05). Conclusion  With inhibiting the up-regulation of RAGE signal in astrocyte after HIBD and expressions of A1 astrocyte and neuroinflammatory factors, gastrodin can promot the expressions of A2 astrocyte and nutritional factors, which play an important role in neuro-protective effect. 

Receptor of advanced glycation endproduct, Astrocyte, Hypoxic-ischemic brain damage, Gastrodin, Western blotting, Neonatal rat