Hsieh C L, Tang N Y, Chiang S Y, Hsieh C T, Lin J G
School of Chinese Medicine and Institute of Chinese Medical Science, China Medical College, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC.
Life Sci. 1999;65(20):2071-82. doi: 10.1016/s0024-3205(99)00473-7.
Uncaria rhynchophylla (Miq.) Jack (UR) and Gastrodia elata BI. (GE) are traditional Chinese herbs that are usually used in combination to treat convulsive disorders, such as epilepsy, in China. The aim of this study was to compare the anticonvulsive and free radical scavenging activities of UR alone and UR in combination with GE in rats. For the in vitro studies, brain tissues from 6 male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were treated with 120 microg/ml kainic acid (KA), with or without varied concentrations of UR or UR plus GE. For the in vivo studies, male SD rats (6 per group) received intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of KA 12 mg/kg to induce epileptic seizures and generation of free radicals, with or without oral administration of UR 1 g/kg alone or UR 1 g/kg plus GE 1 g/kg. Epileptic seizures were verified by behavioral observations, and electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) recordings. These results showed that UR alone decreased KA-induced lipid peroxide levels in vitro, whereas UR plus GE did not produce a greater effect than UR alone. UR significantly reduced counts of wet dog shakes (WDS), paw tremor (PT) and facial myoclonia (FM) in KA-treated rats and significantly delayed the onset time of WDS, from 27 min in the control group to 40 min in the UR group. UR plus GE did not inhibit seizures more effectively than UR alone, but did further prolong the onset time of WDS to 63 min (P < 0.05 vs. UR alone). UR alone reduced the levels of free radicals in vivo, as measured by lipid peroxidation in the brain and luminol-chemiluminescence (CL) counts and lucigenin-CL counts in the peripheral whole blood, but the combination of GE and UR did not reduce free radical levels more markedly than UR alone. In conclusion, our results indicate that UR has anticonvulsive and free radical scavenging activities, and UR combined with GE exhibit greater inhibition on the onset time of WDS than UR alone. These findings suggest that the anticonvulsive effects of UR and GE may be synergistic. However, the mechanism of interaction between UR and GE remains unknown.
钩藤（Uncaria rhynchophylla (Miq.) Jack，UR）和天麻（Gastrodia elata BI.，GE）是中国传统草药，在中国通常联合使用以治疗惊厥性疾病，如癫痫。本研究的目的是比较单独使用钩藤以及钩藤与天麻联合使用对大鼠的抗惊厥和清除自由基活性。在体外研究中，将来自6只雄性Sprague-Dawley（SD）大鼠的脑组织用120μg/ml的 kainic acid（KA）处理，同时添加或不添加不同浓度的钩藤或钩藤加天麻。在体内研究中，雄性SD大鼠（每组6只）腹腔注射12mg/kg的KA以诱导癫痫发作和产生自由基，同时单独口服1g/kg的钩藤或1g/kg的钩藤加1g/kg的天麻。通过行为观察、脑电图（EEG）和肌电图（EMG）记录来验证癫痫发作。这些结果表明，单独使用钩藤可降低体外KA诱导的脂质过氧化物水平，而钩藤加天麻并未比单独使用钩藤产生更大的效果。钩藤显著减少了KA处理大鼠的湿狗样抖动（WDS）次数、爪震颤（PT）和面部肌阵挛（FM），并显著延迟了WDS的发作时间，从对照组的27分钟延长至钩藤组的40分钟。钩藤加天麻并未比单独使用钩藤更有效地抑制癫痫发作，但确实进一步将WDS的发作时间延长至63分钟（与单独使用钩藤相比，P < 0.05）。单独使用钩藤可降低体内自由基水平，通过脑内脂质过氧化以及外周全血中的鲁米诺化学发光（CL）计数和光泽精-CL计数来衡量，但天麻和钩藤的组合并未比单独使用钩藤更显著地降低自由基水平。总之，我们的结果表明，钩藤具有抗惊厥和清除自由基活性，并且钩藤与天麻联合使用对WDS发作时间的抑制作用比单独使用钩藤更大。这些发现表明，钩藤和天麻的抗惊厥作用可能具有协同性。然而，钩藤与天麻之间的相互作用机制仍然未知。
