Effects of baicalin on cognitive function in global cerebral ischemia/reperfusion rats and associated mechanism / 中国药理学通报

ABSTRACT

Aim To investigate the effects of baicalin on cognitive function in global cerebral ischemia reper-fusion rats, and the probable mechanism involved. Methods Sixty male Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats were randomly divided into Sham operation group ( S group) , global cerebral ischemia reperfusion group ( I/R group) , global cerebral ischemia reperfusion + ba-icalin treatment group ( I/RB group) , twenty in each. Model was induced via the bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries plus hemorrhagic hypotension. 12 h after reperfusion, rats in I/RB group were given baicalin (100 mg·kg-1 ) saline solution by intragas-tric administration twice per day for 7 days. Rats in S group and I/R group were given the corresponding dose of saline infusion at the same time. Morris water maze test was employed to detect spatial learning and memo-ry. BrdU immunohistochemistry was used to detect the proliferation of neural precursor cells ( NPCs ) in the brain. Expression of COX-2 in the brain tissue was measured by Western blot. Results Compared to I/R group, baicalin improved spatial learning and memory damage ( P nitive function in the rats with global cerebral ischemia reperfusion, which might be associated with its inhibi-tory effects on the expression of COX-2 , thereby in-creasing the proliferation of NPCs in the brain.