Protective effects of osthole on focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats

Objective To investigate the protective effect of osthole on focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.Methods Focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion model in rat was made by transient occlusion of the middle cerebral artery for 2 h and followed by reperfusion for 24 h.Osthole 5 and 10 mg/kg were iv injected through sublingual vein at 1 h after the onset of ischemia,respectively.After 24 h of reperfusion,the influence of osthole on neurological behaviour deficit score,brain edema,and infarct size were evaluated.The activity of Na+,K+-ATPase,Ca2+-ATPase,and myeloperoxidase(MPO)in the ischemic hemisphere cortex of the middle cerebral artery area was assayed by spectrophotometry.The level of IL-8 was detected with radioimmunoassay.Results Osthole significantly reduced the neurological behaviour deficit score,brain edema,and infarct size,enhanced the activity of Na+,K+-ATPase and Ca2+-ATPase,inhibited the activity of MPO,and decreased the level of IL-8 in the brain tissue.ConclusionThe results suggest that osthole could attenuate the brain damage following focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion in rats and its mechanism may be partly related to the inhibition of inflammation and brain edema induced by ischemia-reperfusion.