ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the protective effect and its mechanism of prescription Zu Zhong 1 Hao (a traditional Chinese medical prescription, including Astragalus membranaceus, Atractylodes macrocephala, Arisaema cure Bile, Rhizoma pinelliae, the seed of Prunus persiea , Angelica sinensis , Ligusticum Chuanxiong, Paeonia lactiflora , and Pueraria ,etc) pretreatment on focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion in rats. Methods Sixty SD rats were randomly divided into sham-operation, ischemia-reperfusion, flunarizine and prescription Zu Zhong 1 Hao low-, medium-and high-dose groups (n=10 in each group). A rat model of focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion was induced by suture method (ischemia for 3 hours followed by reperfusion for 24 hours). Nitric oxide (NO) was measured by the nitrate reductase method; superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was assessed by the xanthine oxidase method; maiondialde-hyde (MDA) was determined by the thiobarbiturie acid method; and tumor necrosis factor-a(TNF-α) was detected by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Results Prescription Zu Zhong 1 Hao significantly improved neurological deficits in focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion in rats, reduced the content of NO and MDA in brain tissue, increased SOD activity, and down-regulated the expression of TNF-α. Among them, the role of the high-dose group was more significant (P<0. 01). There were also significant differences between the low-and medium-dose groups and the ischemia-reperfusion group (P<0. 05). Conclusions The pretreatment of prescription Zu Zhong 1 Hao has the protective effect on focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury, and its mechanism may be associated with the decreased content of NO and MDA in brain tissue, increased SOD activity, and down-regulated TNF-α expression.