Abstract
Purpose: The study was performed to determine the effect of Dipsacus asperoides (roots), commonly known as Xu Duan, on rats with spinal cord injury (SCI).Methods: All the animals were separated into 3 groups: normal control; a group that received Dipsacus asperoides treatment after spinal injury, and a group that received phosphate-buffered saline after SCI. These groups allowed for determination of the effect of Dipsacus asperoides treatment on SCI-injured rats. Evaluation of locomotor function restoration based on Basso–Beattie–Bresnahan score was carried out while expressions of I-kBα and NF-kB p65 were estimated. Evaluation of pro-apoptotic protein Bax and anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 levels was also carried by Western blotting and densitometry.Results: The results showed that 10-mg/kg/day dose of Dipsacus asperoides restored locomotor function in rats after a period of 4 weeks. The treatment also decreased expressions of I-kBα, NF-kB p65 and Bax, but significantly increased expression of Bcl-2 (p < 0.01) in treated rats, compared to untreated rats.Conclusion: The results indicate that treatment with Dipsacus asperoides extract effectively mitigates spinal cord injury by attenuating inflammation and apoptosis in SCI rats.Keywords: Spinal cord injury, IKK-NFkB pathway, Bax, Bcl-2, Xu Duan, Apoptosis
Highlights
Dipsacus asperoides, commonly known as XuDuan, is a perennial plant that is widely distributed in mountainous areas of South WestChina
The results of Western blotting and densitometry analysis indicated that treatment with Dipsacus asperoides significantly attenuated the expressions of phosphorylated I-kBα and NF-kB compared to the Spinal cord injury (SCI)/phosphate buffered saline (PBS) control (Figure 2)
In different pathological conditions including electrical stimulation, cerebral ischemia, brain injury, neuroprotective genes can be induced in vivo [23]. This evaluation of locomotor function restoration and expression of NF-kB, I-kBα, Bax, and Bcl-2 showed a positive effect of Dipsacus asperoides treatment on the expression of these factors, with the most prominent and statistically significant result obtained at 4 weeks after treatment
Summary
Duan, is a perennial plant that is widely distributed in mountainous areas of South West. All the male Sprague–Dawley rats (230–250 g) were separated into 3 groups (n = 20): Normal control; SCI/XD group receives Dipsacus asperoides intraperitoneally after SCI; and SCI/PBS group receives PBS after SCI to allow observation of the effects of treatment. These three major groups were sub-divided into four subgroups each (n = 5). To study the possible effect of Dipsacus asperoides on apoptosis, an evaluation of the level of Bax and Bcl-2 was carried out according to previously published reports [21,22].
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