Letter to Editors Neuroprotective effects of paeoniflorin: an emerging concept in neurology

Abstract

Communicating author: Shailendra Kapoor, Private practice, Chicago, IL, USA, e-mail: shailendrakapoor@yahoo.com Sun et al. have provided interesting data in their recent article in your esteemed journal [5]. Paeoniflorin exerts a number of neuroprotective effects in a wide range of neurological disorders. Paeoniflorin attenuates neuronal ischemia – reperfusion injury. Neurological deficit scores as well as cerebral infarction size are markedly attenuated [6]. It also reduces inflammation in the infarcted area as is evident by its attenuating effect on ICAM-1 and TNF-alpha. It also prevents chronic cognitive changes by downregulating the expression of NF-kappa B in the hippocampal astrocytes [3]. Similar protective effects are seen in steroid induced injured neurons. It up-regulates Bcl-2 expression while down-regulating Bax expression within the neuronal cells [4]. It also increases neurotrophic factor levels. Paeoniflorin also decreases the effects and extent of febrile seizures. It mediates this effect by decreasing the elevation of intracellular ionized calcium secondary to glutamate induced changes. It also mitigates intraneuronal mGluR5 induced elevation of ionized calcium [2]. Paeoniflorin is also of clinical benefit in mitigating the effects of Parkinson’s disease. It mediates this effect by altering neuronal autophagy. It reduces the influx of ionized calcium within the neuronal cells. Besides this, it increases the expression of LC3II and down-regulates LAMP2a expression in cerebral tissue [1]. The above examples clearly illustrate the neuroprotective effects of paeoniflorin.