Protective effect of celastrol in rat cerebral ischemia model: Down-regulating p-JNK, p-c-Jun and NF-κB

► Rat middle cerebral artery occlusion model is used to analyze celastrol's effect. ► Celastrol ameliorates neurological deficit, brain edema and infarct size. ► Celastrol downregulates expression of p-JNK, p-c-Jun and NF-κB. ► Celastrol has protective effect in the acute phase of cerebral ischemia.