Abstract
Background: A Brief interruption of blood supply to the brain can cause significant changes in the function of central nervous system. Patients usually show cognitive, emotional and electrophysiological changes during recovery from stroke. Preliminary pharmacokinetic studies have shown that Thymus vulgaris is useful in the treatment of seizures, respiratory diseases, smooth muscular spasm and bloating. Methods: In an experimental study, for inducing temporary acute ischemia carotid artery was closed for 60 minutes and then blood flow was restored. Thyme extract (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg) was injected daily after induction of ischemia. Shuttle box test was carried out for the first 4 days and rotarod test was conducted at the last day. After the rotarod test, blood samples were collected from heart and brain tissue was removed under deep anesthesia. One way- ANOVA followed by Tukey and t-paired tests were used for comparing the groups at 0.05 level of significance. All data were analyzed by using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS-19) software. Results: In passive avoidance test, the initial latency time was significantly longer in the ischemia group compared to the control group. Administration of thyme extract into ischemic rats significantly increased second latency time and reduced MDA levels of brain cortex. Conclusions: Our results indicated that Thymus vulgaris extract has a neuroprotective activity. Mechanisms of neuroprotective action might be associated with antioxidant activity and inhibition of oxidative stress in rat brain.
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