PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Zhou, Liya
AU  - Song, Zhenfei
AU  - Zhou, Liwen
AU  - Qiu, Yongchi
AU  - Hu, Nan
AU  - Hu, Yong
AU  - Hu, Xingming
TI  - Protective role of astragalus injection in spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats
AID  - 10.17712/nsj.2018.4.20170391
DP  - 2018 Apr 01
TA  - Neurosciences Journal
PG  - 116--121
VI  - 23
IP  - 2
4099  - http://nsj.org.sa/content/23/2/116.short
4100  - http://nsj.org.sa/content/23/2/116.full
SO  - Neurosciences (Riyadh)2018 Apr 01; 23
AB  - Objectives: To investigate the neuroprotective effect of Astragalus injection in a spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury model.Methods: A total of 27 Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: control group (n=3), I/R group (n=12), and Astragalus injection group (Ast group, n=12). Spinal cord ischemia was induced by occlusion of the abdominal aorta above the right renal artery for 32 min. Animals in the Ast group were administered Astragalus injection (6.42 mL/kg) at 30 min before the induction of ischemia. After reperfusion for 8, 12, 24, or 48 hours, the serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE) concentration was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the aquaporin-4 (AQP4) protein level was detected by western blotting.Results: The pathological changes, as assessed by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining, were milder in the spinal cords of the Ast group compared to the I/R group. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay demonstrated that the NSE concentration of the Ast group was significantly lower than that of the I/R group (p<0.05). However, the NSE concentrations of the I/R and Ast groups were significantly higher than that of the control group (p=0.05). Additionally, the expression of AQP4 in the Ast group was lower than that of the I/R group at each time point.Conclusion: These findings indicate that Astragalus injection has a neuroprotective effect in spinal cord I/R injury by decreasing the AQP4 expression.