The effect of huomai tongluo decoction on Bcl-2/Bax expression in cerebral ischemia and reperfusion rats

Objective To observe Bcl-2/Bax expression in the cerebral ischemia and reperfusion rats to explore the possible mechanism of the protective effect of Huomai Tongluo Decoction(HTD). Methods Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal control group, ischemia-reperfusion group, low-dose of HTD group, middle-dose of HTD group, high-dose of HTD group and Ginkgo biloba positive control group. The cerebral ischemia and reperfusion model was established by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery(MCAO). The degree of neurological deficit was assessed, immunohistochemistry and Western blot were used to determine the Bcl-2 and Bax expression in brain tissue. Results Bax expression level in brain tissue was significantly increased in ischemia-reperfusion group compared with the normal control group(P0.01), but reduced in HTD group compared with ischemia-reperfusion group (P0.01), while Bcl-2 protein expression level has no significant change between groups(P0.05). Conclusion The protective effect of Huomai Tongluo Decoction on the ischemia-reperfusion rat might be related to regulating the expression of Bax.