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Cerebroprotective activity of Wedelia calendulacea on global cerebral ischemia in rats
T Prakash1, D Kotresha, N Rama Rao
1Department of Pharmacology, Acharya & B.M. Reddy College of Pharmacy, Bangalore 560 090, Karnataka, India. prakash_tigari@yahoo.com
Insights
W. calendulacea demonstrates neuroprotective effects against cerebral ischemia in rats. Pretreatment with this herb reversed biochemical changes and reduced oxidative stress, suggesting therapeutic potential for brain injury.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Pharmacology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Cerebral ischemia and reperfusion injury lead to significant biochemical alterations in the brain.
- Oxidative stress markers like lipid peroxidation and hydrogen peroxide increase, while antioxidant enzymes such as glutathione, catalase, and superoxide dismutase decrease.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neuroprotective effects of W. calendulacea against ischemia-reperfusion-induced cerebral injury in a rat model.
- To evaluate the impact of W. calendulacea on biochemical markers and oxidative stress in the brain.
Main Methods:
- Global cerebral ischemia was induced by bilateral carotid artery occlusion (BCAO) followed by reperfusion.
- Biochemical assays measured lipid peroxidation (LPO), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD).
- Western blot analysis assessed copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu-Zn-SOD) and CAT protein expression; cerebral infarct size was also measured.
Main Results:
- W. calendulacea pretreatment (250 and 500 mg/kg) dose-dependently reversed biochemical alterations, restoring enzyme levels towards normal.
- Significant increases in copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu-Zn-SOD) and catalase (CAT) protein expression were observed.
- A notable reduction in cerebral infarct damage was observed, though not statistically significant.
Conclusions:
- W. calendulacea exhibits significant neuroprotective activity against cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.
- The herb mitigates oxidative stress by modulating antioxidant enzyme levels and protein expression.
- Further research is warranted to confirm the therapeutic efficacy and explore the mechanisms of W. calendulacea in treating brain injury.
Abstract:
The present study was to investigate the effect of W. calendulacea on ischemia and reperfusion-induced cerebral injury. Cerebral ischemia was induced by occluding right and left common carotid arteries (global cerebral ischemia) for 30 min followed by reperfusion for 1 h and 4 h individually. Various biochemical alterations, produced subsequent to the application of bilateral carotid artery occlusion (BCAO) followed by reperfusion viz. increase in lipid peroxidation (LPO), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and decrease in reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), level in the brain tissue, Western blot analysis (Cu-Zn-SOD and CAT) and assessment of cerebral infarct size were measured. All those enzymes are markedly reversed and restored to near normal level in the groups pretreated with W. calendulacea (250 and 500 mg/kg given orally in single and double dose/day for 10 days) in dose-dependent way. The effect of W. calendulacea had increased significantly the protein expression of copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu-Zn-SOD) and CAT in cerebral ischemia. W. claendulacea was markedly decrease cerebral infarct damages but results are not statistically significant. It can be concluded that W. calendulacea possesses a neuroprotective activity against cerebral ischemia in rat.
