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Updated: May 1, 2026
2-Vessel Occlusion/Hypotension: A Rat Model of Global Brain Ischemia
Published on: June 22, 2013
Catalpol provides protective effects against cerebral ischaemia/reperfusion injury in gerbils
Yan-Ru Liu1, Peng-Wei Li, Jian-Jun Suo
1Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
Objectives:
To investigate the protective effect of catalpol on cerebral ischaemia/reperfusion (CI/R) injury in gerbils and further explore the underlying mechanism.
Methods:
A gerbil model of CI/R was prepared by bilateral common carotid occlusion for 10 min followed by 6 h reperfusion. Catalpol (5, 10 or 20 mg/kg per day) was injected intraperitoneally for 3 days before the carotid occlusion. Stroke index was measured during the reperfusion. The contents of endogenous neuropeptides, endothelin-1 (ET-1) and calcitonin gene-related peptide in plasma were evaluated by radioimmunoassay. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in brain tissue homogenate were also examined.
Key Findings:
The results showed that catalpol significantly improved the stroke index compared with CI/R control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Catalpol significantly increased the activity of SOD at the doses of 10 and 20 mg/kg (P ≤ 0.05), decreased the brain MDA content and the plasma level of ET-1 at the doses of 10 and 20 mg/kg (P ≤ 0.01).
Conclusions:
These data suggested that the efficacy of catalpol pretreatment on CI/R injury may be attributed to reduction of free radicals and inhibition of lipid peroxidation and ET-1 production.
