ABSTRACT
Electroacupuncture preconditioning can alleviate the nerve defect after cerebral ischemia injury, induce cerebral ischemic tolerance and exert the certain protective effect on brain, which may be involved in regulating endocannabinoid system, inhibiting exitotoxicity, inhibiting oxidative stress, inhibiting endoplasmic reticulum stress, inhibiting inflammatory response, protecting blood-brain barrier, inhibiting apoptosis and regulating autophagy, etc.
ABSTRACT
Brain ischemic tolerance refers to endogenous brain protective mechanism during severe ischemic injury of the body. Ischemia preconditioning is an effective mean to induce brain ischemic tolerance. However, the invasive and ethical limitation made the application of ischemic preconditioning difficult in the clinical practice. Studies found that extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway played an important role in the formation of brain ischemic tolerance. Meanwhile, brain ischemic tolerance induced by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) had its unique advantages. This article reviewed effects of ERK signaling pathway in the inducing of brain ischemic tolerance and TCM intervention in recent years.