Application of edaravone-loaded nanogel in alleviating behavioral deficits and oxidative stress in schizophrenia rat model

Schizophrenia is considered as a main one of the public health issues, and imposes numerous burdens on patients and society. We previously reported, the pathophysiology of schizophrenia is influenced by inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction. Edaravone (EDV) as a potent antioxidant with neuroprotective traits, has been approved for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), effecting through neutralizing soluble/insoluble peroxyl radicals. However, the main disadvantages of EDV are its low stability in aqueous media, poor water solubility, and un-optimized bioavailability. To effectively address these obstacles, nanogel was utilized as the drug vehicle. The decoration of nanogel surface with glutathione (GSH) was carried out to elevate edaravone's brain delivery. The probable improvement in drug delivery of edaravone loaded GSH-nanogel is the main hypothesis of this study. In order to mimic schizophrenia-like behaviors, we applied two month of post-weaning social isolation stress (PWSI) to rodent model. The choice of PWSI model was made due to the maturation and development of prefrontal cortex and hippocampus during adolescence. In addition to causing oxidative stress and upregulating genes linked to innate immunity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), the data showed that PWSI triggered schizophrenia-like behaviors in rats. This study demonstrated that treatment with edaravone loaded GSH-nanogel decreased the impact of PWSI on behavioral dysfunctions and oxidative stress in the PFC of rats. Edaravone loaded GSH-nanogel (GSH-PMAA-EDV) down-regulated Toll-like receptor 4 (Tlr-4) and AMP-activated protein kinase (Ampk) gene expression which are involved in inflammation and cellular energy homeostasis, respectively. Increase immunoreactivity feedback and Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) as direct impact in neurogenesis and neural cell plasticity was observed in EDV loaded GSH-nanogel treated groups. edaravone loaded GSH-nanogel (100 µg/kg) in comparison to free form of edaravone (5 mg/kg) revealed more beneficial effects, which might be useful for future clinical use especially for the treatment of schizophrenia.