Protective effect of radix Salviae miltiorrhizae on apoptosis of neurons during focal cerebral ischemia and reperfusion injury.

We have found that Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae (RSM) plays a protective role in ischemic brain injury, which attracted us to investigate the effect of RSM on apoptosis of neurons during cerebral ischemia and reperfusion. The apoptotic cells in ischemic brains at different reperfusion intervals were tested with the method of TdT-mediated dUTP-DIG nick end labeling (TUNEL), and the effect of RSM on the apoptosis of neurons was studied in left middle cerebral artery (LMCA) occlusion in rat models (n = 18). The results showed that few scattered apoptotic cells were observed in right cerebral hemisphere after LMCA occlusion and reperfusion, and that a lot of apoptotic cells were found in left ischemic cerebral cortex and caudoputamen at 12 h reperfusion, and they reached peak at 24-48 h reperfusion. However, in rats pretreated with RSM, the number of apoptotic cells in left cortex and caudoputamen reduced significantly and the neuronal damage was much milder at 24 h reperfusion as compared with those of saline-treated rats. From this study, we conclude that administration of RSM can reduce the apoptotic of neurons induced by cerebral ischemia and reperfusion and afford significant cerebroprotection in the model of focal cerebral ischemia and reperfusion.