Studies on the mechanisms of the Beneficial effects of Herba Leonuri and Leonurine on Traumatic Brain Injury in Rat

Abstract

This study aims to investigate and compare the effects of purified Herba leonuri (pHL) and Leonurine (Leo) following TBI. The rats were given orally, pHL (400mg/kg), Leo (60mg/kg) or vehicle, daily for one week after TBI induction. With pHL, the lesion area and apoptotic cells in the injured cortex was reduced. The reduction of apoptotic hippocampal cells, neuronal loss, astrocytes and microglia was also observed. pHL significantly increased the activities of SOD, CAT and GPx while Leo only increased SOD activity. pHL significantly reduced the expressions of Bax and PARP while increasing the expressions of Bcl-xL and caspase-3. On the contrary, Leo significantly reduced expressions of Bax and PARP while increasing the expressions of Bcl-xL and caspase-3. pHL has a higher antioxidant capacity, better antioxidant and anti-apoptotic effects than Leo. The difference in activities of SOD, CAT, GPx and expressions of PARP, Bcl-xL, caspase-3 was significant between both treatment groups.