Cordycepin protects against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury in vivo and in vitro.

Cordycepin, (3'-deoxyadenosine), a bioactive compound of Cordyceps militaris, has been shown to exhibit many pharmacological actions, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidative and anticancer activities. Little is known about the neuroprotective action of cordycepin as well as its molecular mechanisms. In this study, cordycepin was investigated for its neuroprotective potential in mice with ischemia following 15 min of the bilateral common carotid artery occlusion and 4h of reperfusion. The effect of cordycepin was also studied in mice brain slices treated with oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) injury. Our results showed that cordycepin was able to prevent postischemic neuronal degeneration an…