Effect of hydroxyethylpuerarin on apoptosis and expression of p53 in focal brain ischemia reperfusion injury rats

PurposeHydroxyethylpuerarin(compound N-2035) is modified in structure from puerarin, a kind of isoflavone that was extracted from Chinese traditional medicine. This study is to investigate the protective effect of hydroxyethylpuerarin on focal brain ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.MethodsThe models of focal brain ischemia reperfusion injury by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) established in Wister rats were used for HE stain, TUNEL and determination of p53.ResultsHydroxyethylpuerarin can significantly improve the pathological changes and inhibit apoptosis in hippocampus CA1 area and at the same time decrease the expression of p53.ConclusionHydroxyethylpuerarin can relieve brain damage induced by focal ischemia/reperfusion in rats, which may be related to the decrease of the expression of p53 and the inhibition of apoptosis.