PURPOSE: The object of this study was to evaluate the cognition and motor function recovery effects of Platycodin D (PD), a saponin isolated from Platycodi Radix, in the severe rat stroke, permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) model with ...
PURPOSE: The object of this study was to evaluate the cognition and motor function recovery effects of Platycodin D (PD), a saponin isolated from Platycodi Radix, in the severe rat stroke, permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) model with its possible action mechanisms – neuron anti-apoptotic potentials and antioxidant defense system.
METHODS: The experimental animals were divided into six groups. Three different dosages of PD were administered orally by using Sonde, once daily for 28 continuous days from 24 hrs post-pMCAO, and body weight changes, sensorimotor function (limb placing and body-swing tests) and cognitive motor behavior (water maze test) were serially observed. With changes of infarct/defect volumes after autopsy, mRNA expression of anti-apoptotic markers, STAT3/Pim-1 was evaluated. In addition, the immunoreactivities of cerebral apoptotic markers (caspase-3 and PARP) and oxidative stress markers (Nitrotyrosine and 4-HNE) were assessed by immunohistochemistry. Lastly, MDA for lipid peroxidation, and GSH contents, catalase and SOD activities for antioxidant effects were also observed in cerebral cortex after pMCAO with histopathological changes. Donepezil 10 mg/kg, palliative treatment of various dementia, was used as a reference drug.
RESULTS: pMCAO related ischemic damages in peri-infarct cortex, disorders of sensory and cognitive motor function, neuron apoptosis, and destroys of antioxidant defense systems were significantly and dose-dependently inhibited by treatment of PD 400, 200 and 100 mg/kg, respectively.
CONCLUSION: These results indicated that oral administration of PD accelerated cognition and motor function recovery in the rat pMCAO model, mediated by neuroprotection via an anti-apoptotic role through up-regulation of the STAT3 signaling pathway and the augmentation of cerebral antioxidant defense systems. The overall effects of PD 200 mg/kg were similar to those of donepezil 10 mg/kg, but less toxic. Therefore, PD is determined to be effective for the treatment and prevention of vascular dementia caused by cerebral ischemia.