Effects of Astragalus Injection on Apoptosis in the Cerebral Tissue after Focal Cerebral Ischemia in Rats

Objective: To investigate the protective effects of Astragalus Injection on anti-apoptosis in the cerebral tissue of rats with focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury.Methods: Thirty male Sprague Dawley rats with average body weight of 260-300g were randomly divided into 3 groups: sham-operation group,an ischemic group and Astragalus Injection group,10 in each.The model of the middle cerebral artery occlusion was successfully established with suture occlusion for 2 hours.The expression of Bcl-2 was detected by using immunohistochemistry.The expression of apoptotic cells were detected by using Tunel methods.Results: Both of the expression of apoptotic cells and Bcl-2 increased in the ischemic group,but Astragalus Injection significantly reduced the increase(P0.01 and P0.05).Conclusions: Astragalus Injection may prevent cranial nerve in the ischemic penumbra around from ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.This may be an anti-apoptosis effect.