Cerebral protection of purified Herba Leonuri extract on middle cerebral artery occluded rats

Abstract

Aim of study: Oxidative stress is involved in stroke. In particular, Chinese Herbal Medicine with antioxidant properties is believed to have potential therapeutic effect. In this study, neuroprotective effects of purified Herba Leonuri (pHL) were evaluated in Wistar rats undergone middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Materials and methods: The rats were treated with their respective treatments for 2 weeks prior to the MCAO, continually treated for another 7 days after MCAO. During the post-surgery treatment period, neurological deficit score was measured. At the end of treatment, animals were sacrificed and samples were collected for analysis of infarct volume, apoptosis and antioxidant analysis. Results: Under the treatment of pHL, the infarct volume was reduced significantly from 20.75 ± 0.03% to 15.19 ± 0.02% (p < 0.05). The neurological impairment was alleviated to 1.82 as compared to vehicle (2.43). Plasma antioxidant concentration was increased from 0.31 ± 0.03 mM to 0.42 ± 0.05 mM (p < 0.05). DNA oxidative damage was reduced to 1.19 ± 0.03 in stroke pHL treated group (p < 0.05 as compared to vehicle group, 1.78 ± 0.03). pHL could reduce the level of apoptosis and also the pro-apoptotic proteins, but increase the level of anti-apoptotic proteins. Conclusion: pHL is believed to have promising therapeutic effect for stroke treatment through antioxidant mechanisms. © 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.