Cerebral hemorrhage, resulting from the rupture and bleeding of cerebral blood vessels, is a significant medical emergency. While craniotomy can mitigate the physical damage associated with primary brain injury, there is currently no specific pharmaceutical intervention to improve surgical prognosis and functional outcome. This research project aims to develop a novel drug therapy for patients with cerebral hemorrhage, targeting the enhancement of hematoma clearance.
Through in vitro experiments using red blood cells and microglia (BV-2 cell line), we used the microglial BV-2 cell line for erythrophagocytosis assay to study the effects of urocortin-a potent anti-neuroinflammatory neuropeptide, focusing on the modulation of microglial activation. The erythrophagocytic activity of microglia was evaluated by fluorescence microscopy and fluorescence intensity. The expression of M1/M2 genes was measured by RT-qPCR. The results showed that urocortin effectively enhanced the phagocytosis of microglial cells and modulated the M1/M2 functions. Our results demonstrated that urocortin enhances microglial erythrophagocytosis.
Understanding the effects of UCN in enhancing hematoma clearance may provide a path for urocortin treatment in ICH injury.