Deferoxamine reduces intracerebral hemorrhage-induced white matter damage in aged rats

Iron contributes to c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) activation in young rats and white matter injury in piglets after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). In the present study, we examined the effect of deferoxamine on ICH-induced white matter injury and JNK activation and in aged rats. Male Fischer 344 rats (18 months old) had either an intracaudate injection of 100 μl of autologous blood or a needle insertion (sham). The rats were treated with deferoxamine or vehicle with different regimen (dosage, duration and time window). White matter injury and activation of JNK were examined. We found that a dose of DFX should be at more than 10 mg/kg for a therapeutic duration more than 2 days with a therapeutic time window of 12 h to reduce ICH-induced white matter loss at 2 months. ICH-induced white matter injury was associated with JNK activation. The protein levels of phosphorylated-JNK (P-JNK) were upregulated at day-1 after ICH and then gradually decreased. P-JNK immunoreactivity was mostly located in white matter bundles. ICH-induced JNK activation was reduced by DFX treatment. This study demonstrated that DFX can reduce ICH-induced JNK activation and white matter damage.