Protective Effect Of Gui Qi Yin On Acute Cerebral Ischemia In Mice

Objective: Cerebral ischemia is a neuro-disorder with a high rate of occurrence, mortality, recurrence and disability. Preventive interventions are therefore of great significance as the disease is a serious threat to human health. Although there currently exist neuroprotective agents for acute brain injuries, these therapeutically agents such as NMDA receptor antagonists, calcium channel antagonists, glucocorticoids and other anti-inflammatory drugs tend to produce unsatisfactory results or serious side-effects. In this regard, researches into the neuroprotective properties of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for acute brain infarction have generated great interests internationally. Based on TCM, brain thrombosis relates to the blood-stasis (Xue Yu Zheng) which can be reverted adequately, as documented clinically, by TCM with anti-blood-stasis property that promotes blood circulation. Qui Qi Yin has been an effective prescription with years of clinical application. This study combining both TCM and current approaches is to investigate the neuroprotective effects of Qui Qi Yin on brain injuries in mice, with the aim to reveal the basis of the neuroprotective effects of TCM on Cerebral ischemia in general.Methods: Permanent local ischemia was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in mice. Before operation, GUI QI YIN at different doses or nimodipine (2 mg/kg) was orally administered for 7 days (once a day or twice a day) . Twenty-four h after MCAO, the neurological symptoms, brain infarct volume, areas of brain sections, neuron density in the CA1 and cortex, and albumin exadution were determined for evaluating cerebral injuries.Another group of mice were given GUI QI YIN at different doses or nimodipine (2 mg/kg) for 7 d, the protective effect on oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD), an in vitro ischemia model, induced injury was observed in the brain slices from treated mice.Results: GUI QI YIN at 5 - 60 g/kg and nimodipine 2 mg/kg improved neuronal dysfunction, reduced the infarct volumes and area ratio of ischemia/non-ischemia sections, inhibited the decrease in neuron density and albumin exudation after MCAO, and 15 g/kg was the most effective dose. Also, GUI QI YIN (5, 15 g/kg) inhibited OGD-induced injury in brain slices from the mice that taking the medicine for 7 d.Conclusion: GUI QI YIN has protective effect on focal cerebral ischemia-induced acute injuries in mice.