Protective effects of medicinal plant breviscapine on postcerebral hemorrhage in rats

Medicinal plant breviscapine is shown to exhibit a protective role in tissue damage after cerebral hemorrhage. The effects of breviscapine on neurological deficit score, brain tissue water content, brain pathological tissue changes, blood-brain barrier bidirectional regulation, and inflammatory factors after cerebral hemorrhage in rats were observed. Western blot and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction were performed to explore how Periostin and nuclear factor kappa-B pathway-related factors protein expression contribute to the protective effects of breviscapine on brain injury. Breviscapine inhalation could reduce neurological deficit scores and brain tissue water content. Hematoxylin-eosin staining showed that breviscapine could improve the pathological changes of brain tissue and alleviate brain damage. Breviscapine reduced the abnormal increase of Evans blue content caused by a cerebral hemorrhage, and could significantly inhibit the levels of inflammatory factors interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α. Also, breviscapine significantly inhibited the expressions of Periostin and nuclear factor kappa-B pathway-related factors after cerebral hemorrhage, and alleviate brain damage by down-regulating Periostin expression and inhibiting nuclear factor kappa-β signaling pathway.