No abstract

Cerebral ischemia with high mortality and morbidity still requires the effectiveness of medical treatments. A growing number of investigations have shown strong links between inflammation and cerebral ischemia. Natural medicine’s treatment methods of cerebral ischemic illness have amassed a wealth of treatment experience and theoretical knowledge. This review summarized recent progress on the disease inflammatory pathways as well as 26 representative natural products that have been routinely utilized to treat cerebral ischemic injury. These natural products have exerted anti-inflammatory effects in cerebral ischemia based on their inflammatory mechanisms, including their inflammatory gene expression patterns and their related different cell types, and the roles of inflammatory mediators in ischemic injury. Overall, the combination of the potential therapeutic interventions of natural products with the inflammatory mechanisms will make them be applicable for cerebral ischemic patients in the future.

Berberine (BBR) is an isoquinoline alkaloid which protects the acute gastroenteritis and inhibits gastric ulcers, and 8-Alkylberberine (8-BBR-Cn, n=4, 8, 12 and 16) with a long aliphatic chain are synthesized have been reported. This paper investigated the possible mechanisms underlying the gastroprotective effect of 8-BBR-Cn derivatives at dose of 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg body weight on enthanol-induced gastric mucosal injury in rats. The ulcer index and percentage inhibition were evaluated. The stomachs tissues were chosen for determination of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity and prostaglandin E2 (PEG2) levels, and assay kit were used for the above two assays. Compared with model control group, the ulcer indexes of 8-BBR-Cn (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg, i.g.) treatment groups decreased significantly. Additionally, 8-BBR-Cn could enhance PEG2 concentration in mucosal tissue of gastric ulcer rats. Moreover, in mucosal tissue, activities of total NOS (TNOS) and constitutive NOS (cNOS) were increased, but inducible NOS (iNOS) was decreased by 8-BBR-Cn. 8-BBR-Cn derivatives had protective effect on gastric mucous membrane, and 8-BBR-C16 displayed stronger gastroprotective effect as carbon chain at C8 position lengthens, which was related to prostaglandin E2 and nitric oxide synthase pathways.

The treatment of cerebral ischemic disease by natural medicines has a long history, and has accumulated a rich theoretical knowledge and treatment experience. The objective of this review is to critically evaluate the experimental research situation of the protective effect of the individual compounds from natural medicine on cerebral ischemia in the past ten years, emphasizing the major mechanisms underlying cerebral ischemic pathophysiology. Sixteen representative compounds from natural medicines which are often used to treat stroke are discussed. The results indicate that these components possess a protective effect on cerebral ischemia, and that these components have different mechanisms, including inhibiting excitotoxicity by ginkgolide B, antiapoptosis of breviscapine, influencing astrocytic activation and proliferation of tanshinone IIA, influencing free radicals by ginsenoside Rd, impairing blood-brain barrier disruption by baicalin, and the anti-inflammatory activity of tetramethylpyrazine. Moreover, some components have multiple neuroprotective mechanisms. Therefore, the combination of individual compounds from natural medicines, considering the mechanisms of cerebral ischemia, may be beneficial to patients with cerebral ischemia in the future. This approach will provide a direction for the further application and exploitation of new drug development in the treatment of cerebral ischemia.