Effect of ginseng total saponins on neuronal apoptosis in rats with traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Objective To observe the effect of ginseng total saponins (GTS) on neuronal apoptosis in rats with traumatic brain injury (TBI), and explore the underlying mechanisms of GTS in the treatment of secondary brain injury. Methods SD rats were randomly divided into sham-operated group, TBI group and GTS-treatment group (n=18). TBI models were established with the modified Feeney's method. Three h after the success of model making, 20 mg/kg GTS was given to the GTS-treatment group through intraperitoneal injection and the same amount of normal saline was given to the TBI group. Twenty-four hours after the success of model making, the rats were sacrificed; the brain water content was measured by wet-dry weight method; the morphological changes of neurons in the hippocampal area were observed under optical microscope after Nissl staining. The neuronal apoptosis and the protein expressions of bax, bcl-2 and caspase-3 in the cortex and hippocampus were determined by TUNEL and immunohistochemical technique, respectively. Results Compared with TBI group,treatment with GTS decreased the water content of the brain, alleviated the damage of hippocampal area,reduced the number of TUNEL positive cells and the bax and caspase-3 positive cells, and increased the number of bcl-2 positive cells. Conclusion GTS can exert a neuroprotective effect in rats with TBI.The underlying mechanism of this effect is potentially related to the elevation of expression of bcl-2 and reduction of expression ofbax and caspase-3, and thereby, restraining the neuronal apoptosis in the brain tissue. Key words: Craniocerebral trauma; Apoptosis; Ginsenosides