Effect of Procyanidin on the Activities of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 after Cerebral Ischemic Reperfusion Injury in Rats

Objective To study the effect of procyanidin on the activities of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 after cerebral ischemic reperfusion(I/R) injury in rats.Methods In this experiment,rats were randomly divided into 4 groups:sham operated group,I/R group,low procyanidin treated group and high procyanidin treated group.The focal middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO) model was made by suture-occluded method.After 90min MCAO following 24h reperfusion,we investigated the activities of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 with using cleavage of the fluorescence substrate AC-DEVD-AMC and AC-L EHD-AFC respectively.The neurological score was investigated.TTC and HE staining were also investigated.Results Compared with sham operated group,the activities of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 were increased at 24h reperfusion in the ischemic territory(P0.05).Compared with I/R group,low and high dose procyanidin dose-dependently reduced the activities of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 dose-dependently(P0.05).The neurological score,and cerebral infarction volume alleviated the pothological changes of brain tissue.Conclusion Procyanidin plays protective effect on cerebral ischemia injury by decreasing the activities of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9,and then decreasing neuronal apoptosis.