Abstract
This study aimed to investigate neuroprotection of Danhong injection (DHI) in a rat model of cerebral ischemia using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG-PET). Method. Rats were divided into 5 groups: sham group, ischemia-reperfusion untreated (IRU) group, DHI-1 group (DHI 1 mL/kg/d), DHI-2 group (DHI 2 mL/kg/d), and DHI-4 group (DHI 4 mL/kg/d). AII the treated groups were intraperitoneally injected with DHI daily for 14 days. The therapeutic effects in terms of cerebral infarct volume, neurological function, and cerebral glucose metabolism were evaluated. Expression of TNF-α and IL-1β was detected with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Levels of mature neuronal marker (NeuN), glial marker (GFAP), vascular density factor (vWF), and glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) were assessed by immunohistochemistry. Results. Compared with the IRU group, rats treated with DHI showed dose dependent reductions in cerebral infarct volume and levels of proinflammatory cytokines, improvement of neurological function, and recovery of cerebral glucose metabolism. Meanwhile, the significantly increased numbers of neurons, gliocytes, and vessels and the recovery of glucose utilization were found in the peri-infarct region after DHI treatment using immunohistochemical analysis. Conclusion. This study demonstrated the metabolic recovery after DHI treatment by micro-PET imaging with 18F-FDG and the neuroprotective effects of DHI in a rat model of cerebral ischemic-reperfusion injury.
Highlights
Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of death, disability, and massive socioeconomic loss worldwide [1]
No significant differences in neurological function deficit scores were observed between the Danhong injection (DHI)-2 group and the DHI-4 group (P = 1.00)
These results suggested that the treatment of DHI improved neurological function recovery (Table 1, Figure 1)
Summary
Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of death, disability, and massive socioeconomic loss worldwide [1]. Current therapeutic strategies mainly focusing on restoring blood flow to the cerebral ischemia timely are frequently used in clinic [2]. Reperfusion after cerebral ischemia usually leads irreversible brain damage, which is driven by diverse pathological factors including inflammation, excitotoxicity, free radical-induced neuronal damage, and apoptosis [3,4,5,6,7]. There is no effective treatment for cerebral ischemic-reperfusion injury. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is focused on for its multitargets therapy. TCM has been used in ancient medical systems for treating various neurological diseases, especially stroke, and has exerted its distinctive neuroprotective effects on cerebral ischemia [8,9,10]
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