Institute of Cerebrovascular Diseases, Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University Medical College, Qingdao, Shandong 266003, China.
Behav Brain Funct. 2013 Oct 1;9:36. doi: 10.1186/1744-9081-9-36.
Astragalus is a widely used traditional Chinese medicine and has been proven beneficial for many aspects of human health. It is important to explore the neuroprotective effect and mechanism of astragalus injection in cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury.
The focal cerebral ischemic model with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) reperfusion was established by Longa's method in healthy adult male Wistar rats, and treated by injecting intraperitoneally astragalus injection (3 ml/kg). The neurobehavioral function of rats was evaluated by Longa's test. The cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured by laser Doppler flowmetry and the cerebral infarct volume was calculated by tetrazolium chloride (TTC) stain. The shape and structure of neurons in parahippocampal area was observed by HE stain and the neuronal apoptosis was detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) and flow cytometry. The expressions of c-jun N-terminal kinase 3 (JNK3) mRNA and protein were determined by RT-PCR and immunohistochemical assay and Western blotting respectively.
After treatment with astragalus injection, the expressions of JNK3 mRNA and protein reduced significantly, the number of neuronal apoptosis minus, the cerebral infarct volume shrink, the neuronal shape-structure and animal neurobehavioral function improved significantly than those in model rats.
It is suggested that astragalus injection could inhibit neuronal apoptosis, reduce infarct volume and improve neurobehavioral function by down-regulating the expression of JNK3 gene after cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury in rats.
黄芪是一种广泛使用的中药，已被证明对人类健康的许多方面都有益。探索黄芪注射液对脑缺血再灌注损伤的神经保护作用及其机制非常重要。
采用 Longa 法建立健康成年雄性 Wistar 大鼠大脑中动脉闭塞（MCAO）再灌注局灶性脑缺血模型，腹腔注射黄芪注射液（3ml/kg）进行治疗。通过 Longa 评分评估大鼠的神经行为功能。激光多普勒血流仪测量脑血流（CBF），氯化四唑（TTC）染色计算脑梗死体积。HE 染色观察海马旁区神经元的形态和结构，末端脱氧核苷酸转移酶介导的 dUTP 缺口末端标记（TUNEL）和流式细胞术检测神经元凋亡。通过 RT-PCR、免疫组化和 Western blot 分别检测 c-jun N 末端激酶 3（JNK3）mRNA 和蛋白的表达。
黄芪注射液治疗后，JNK3mRNA 和蛋白的表达明显下调，神经元凋亡减少，脑梗死体积缩小，神经元形态结构和动物神经行为功能明显改善。
提示黄芪注射液可能通过下调 JNK3 基因的表达，抑制大鼠脑缺血再灌注损伤后的神经元凋亡，减少梗死体积，改善神经行为功能。
