L.R. Institute of Pharmacy, Solan 173 223, India.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2011;2011:792167. doi: 10.1093/ecam/neq019. Epub 2011 Mar 13.
Antioxidants have been the focus of studies for developing neuroprotective agents to be used in the therapy for stroke, which is an acute and progressive neurodegenerative disorder. Medicago sativa (MS) has a long tradition of use as ayurvedic and homoeopathic medicine in central nervous system disorders. The plant has been reported to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic effects. Therefore, the present study was designed to investigate the neuroprotective effect of methanol extract of MS on ischemia and reperfusion-induced cerebral injury in mice. Bilateral carotid artery occlusion (BCAO) for 15 min followed by 24-h reperfusion, resulted in significant elevation in infarct size, xanthine oxidase (XO) activity, superoxide anion (O(•-) (2)) production and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance (TBARS) levels, and significant depletion in endogenous antioxidant [reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and total tissue sulfhydryl (T-SH) groups] systems in mice brain. Further, BCAO led to impairment in short-term memory and motor coordination. Pre-treatment with MS (100 or 200 mg kg(-1), p.o.) markedly reduced cerebral infarct size, XO, O(•-) (2) and TBARS levels, significantly restored GSH, SOD and T-SH levels and attenuated impairment in short-term memory and motor coordination. In addition, MS directly scavenged free radicals generated against a stable radical 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and O(•-) (2) generated in phenazine methosulphate-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide systems, and also inhibited XD/XO conversion and resultant O(•-) (2) production. The data from this study suggest that treatment with MS enhances the antioxidant defense against BCAO-induced global cerebral ischemia and exhibits neuroprotective activity.
抗氧化剂一直是开发神经保护剂的研究焦点，这些神经保护剂将用于中风的治疗，中风是一种急性进行性神经退行性疾病。紫花苜蓿（MS）作为阿育吠陀和顺势疗法药物在中枢神经系统疾病中的应用已有悠久的历史。该植物已被报道具有抗氧化、抗炎和抗糖尿病作用。因此，本研究旨在探讨 MS 甲醇提取物对小鼠缺血再灌注引起的脑损伤的神经保护作用。双侧颈总动脉闭塞（BCAO） 15 分钟，然后再灌注 24 小时，导致梗死面积、黄嘌呤氧化酶（XO）活性、超氧阴离子（O(•-) (2)) 生成和硫代巴比妥酸反应物质（TBARS）水平显著升高，以及小鼠大脑内源性抗氧化剂[还原型谷胱甘肽（GSH）、超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）和总组织巯基（T-SH）]系统显著耗竭。此外，BCAO 导致短期记忆和运动协调受损。MS（100 或 200mgkg(-1)，口服）预处理可显著减少脑梗死面积、XO、O(•-) (2) 和 TBARS 水平，显著恢复 GSH、SOD 和 T-SH 水平，并减轻短期记忆和运动协调受损。此外，MS 直接清除自由基，对稳定自由基 1,1-二苯基-2-苦基肼和吩嗪甲硫酸盐-烟酰胺腺嘌呤二核苷酸系统中生成的 O(•-) (2) 具有清除作用，还抑制 XD/XO 转化和由此产生的 O(•-) (2) 生成。本研究的数据表明，MS 治疗可增强抗氧化防御能力，对抗 BCAO 诱导的全脑缺血，并表现出神经保护活性。
