Pretreatment with Shenxiong Drop Pill induces AQP4- mediated neuroprotective effect on middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the neuroprotective effect of Shenxiong Drop Pill (SXDP) pretreatment on rats with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in rats, and the mechanism involved.Methods: Ninety-nine SD rats were randomly assigned to 4 groups: control group, MCAO group, shamoperated group and SXDP group. The MCAO model was established via thread occlusion. Rats in the SXDP group was administered SXDP 7 days before induction of MCAO. Neurological deficit score (NDS) was determined using Bederson's neurological behavioral scoring method, while cerebral infarction volume was measured using TTC staining. Integrated optical density (IOD) of Nissl Body was evaluated via Nissl staining. Brain water content was measured using dry-wet method. The expression level of AQP4 in brain tissues was determined using immunocytochemistry.Results: The SXDP treatment resulted in significant reduction in NDS, marked improvement in IOD of Nissl Body, and significant reductions in cerebral infarction volume, brain water content, and expression level of AQP4, relative to control (p< 0.05).Conclusion: These results suggest that SXDP pretreatment exerts neuroprotective effect against cerebral ischemia in rats by decreasing in cerebral edema through a mechanism involving downregulation of the expression of AQP4.
 Keywords: Middle cerebral artery occlusion, Cerebral ischemia, Aquaporins-4, Cerebral edema, Neuroprotection

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“…And then rinsed with PBS, the slices were stained with Nissl staining solution for 20 min at 37 C. The stained slices were observed and photographed under an optical microscope (Olympus, Japan) for comparing the integrated optical density (IOD) of Nissl bodies in the hippocampus. The IOD of Nissl bodies in the CA1 and CA3 regions of the hippocampus from each animal were counted using Image-Pro Plus 6.0 software (Jin et al, 2020).…”