RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Protective role of astragalus injection in spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats
JF Neurosciences Journal
JO Neurosciences (Riyadh)
FD Prince Sultan Military Medical City
SP 116
OP 121
DO 10.17712/nsj.2018.4.20170391
VO 23
IS 2
A1 Zhou, Liya
A1 Song, Zhenfei
A1 Zhou, Liwen
A1 Qiu, Yongchi
A1 Hu, Nan
A1 Hu, Yong
A1 Hu, Xingming
YR 2018
UL http://nsj.org.sa/content/23/2/116.abstract
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.