Abstract: Objective To explore the mechanism and intervention effects of diammonium glycyrrhizinate (DG) on the formation of intracranial aneurysm (IA) in rabbits. Methods Forty New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into four groups: control group, IA group, normal saline (NS) group and DG group, 10 rabbits for each group. Except for the control group, rabbits in other three groups were operated with bilateral common carotid artery ligation to produce basilar artery aneurysm formation model. DG group was injected intravenously with DG［20 mg/(kg·d)］ from the first day to the seventh day after operation, NS group was given same volume of normal saline, while IA group was injected nothing. The expressions of NF-κB and MMP-9 were detected by immunohistochemical staining, while α-SMA was stained with immunofluorescence. Results The expressions of NF- κB and MMP- 9 were significantly higher in IA group and NS group than those of control group, while α-SMA expression was significantly lower than that of control group (P < 0.01). There were no significant differences in expressions of NF-κB and MMP-9 between IA group and NS group (P＞ 0.05). The expressions of NF-κB and MMP-9 were significantly lower in DG group than those of IA group and NS group (P＜ 0.05). The expression of α- SMA was significantly higher in DG group than that of IA group and NS group (P＜0.05). Conclusion DG can downregulate the expression levels of NF- κB and MMP- 9 in intracranial aneurysm, suppress inflammatory in artery wall and reduce the pathological changes and have intervention effect on intracranial aneurysm formation.

Key words: intracranial aneurysm, inflammation, NF- kappa B, matrix metalloproteinase 9, actins, destructive remodeling of vascular wall