Protective effects of total saponin of Radix Codonopsis on focal cerebral ischemia in rats

AIM To investigate the protective effects of total saponin of Radix Codonopsis(TSC) on focal cerebral ischemia in rats,and explore the possible mechanisms of action.METHODS Fifty-four Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham group,sham-treated group,model group and model-treated group. Rats in sham-treated and model-treated groups were administered by TSC at the dose of 60 mg·kg~(-1) by gavage, while sham and model groups were administered by the same volume of normal saline instead.Seven days later, the focal cerebral ischemia model was induced by right middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats.Twenty-four hours after the operation,mortality and the neurological function in each groups were observed,and cerebral infarction volume was determined by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride(TTC) staining.For the mechanism study,the mRNA expressions of Tnf-α,Il-1β,Cox-2,Nos3 and Nos2 in ischemic border were detected by real time RT-PCR.RESULTS TSC at dose of 60 mg·kg~(-1) caused a significant decrease in mortality,the score of neurological function and cerebral infarction volume(P0.05).TSC inhibited the mRNA expressions of Tnf-α, Il-1β,Cox-2,Nos3 and Nos2 in ischemic border(P0.05),while it did not affect those of the sham-treated group(P0.05).CONCLUSION TSC has protective effects on focal cerebral ischemia in rats,which may be related to the inhibition of mRNA expressions of inflammation-related genes.