Background
Gastrodia elata Blume (Orchidaceae) is a widely used traditional Chinese herbal medicine in the clinical practice of China, to treat nervous headache, convulsions, dizziness, neurasthenia, and so on. Parishin C (Par C), one of the major bioactive components of Gastrodia elata Blume, is known to exert many different biological activities, including antipsychotic and neuroprotective effects. However, there is little research about its neuroprotective effect in an ischemic stroke model. The
Conclusion
Par C is shown to exert neuroprotective effects partly via inhibiting oxidative stress and inflammation in a rat model of MCAO.
Methods
Rats were pretreated with Par C (25, 50, or 100 mg/kg/day, i.p.) for 21 days, then subjected to 2 h of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and 22 h of reperfusion. Neurological deficient scores, brain water content, histopathology, TCC staining were performed to assess the neuroprotective effects of Par C. Meanwhile, the oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis-related markers of brain tissue were evaluated by corresponding assay kits. Besides, the antioxidant and pro-inflammatory expression was measured by real-time quantification PCR (RT-qPCR).
Results
Our findings indicated that the pre-treatment with Par C improved nerve function, suppressed oxidative stress, and pro-inflammatory factors release in rats with cerebral ischemia damage. Besides, Par C significantly increased antioxidant expression and declined pro-inflammatory cytokines expression.