Effects of Andrographolide on Cognitive Function in Rats with Chronic Cereral Ischemia

Objective:To investigate the effect of andrographolide on cognitive function of rats with chronic cerebral ischemia and the protective effect of andrographolide on the brain against ischemia.Methods:Forty-eight male SD rats aged 3-4months weighing 250-300g were randomly divided into four groups(n=12each):sham operation group(SH),chronic cerebral ischemia(IS),IS+DMSO group(DMSO),and IS+andrographolide group(AND).The permanent occlusion of bilateral common carotid arteries in SD rats was adopted to set up the chronic fore-brain ischemia model.After two weeks,the cognitive function was assessed by Morris water maze(MWM).The morphologic changes of CA1region of hippocampus were observed with HE staining.The apoptosis was examined by method of TUNEL,and the expression of Bcl-2protein in hippocampus was detected by Western blotting.Results:Compared with group IS,the escape latencies in MWM of AND group were shorter(P0.05).The rats of AND group spent moretime in the platform region than that of chronic cerebral ischemia rats in probe trials.The ischemia injury of the neurons in hippocampus CA1of AND group was milder than that in IS group.The apoptotic rate of nerve cells in AND group was lower than that in IS group(P0.05).The Bcl-2protein expression in AND group was higher than that in IS group(P0.05).In each detection index,there was no significant difference between IS and DMSO groups(P0.05).Conclusion:Andrographolide can improve the cognitive impairment after chronic cerebral hypoperfusion in rats,which can increase the expression of anti-apoptosis Bcl-2protein and restrain apoptosis of cranial nerve cells.