Lavanya Yaidikar, Bhavya Byna and Santh Rani Thakur
Accepted Abstracts: J Neurol Neurophysiol
Background:Cerebral ischemia is a chief cause of death worldwide. After cerebral ischemia/reperfusion, the reactive oxygen species production is dramatically increased and overwhelms endogenous antioxidant systems, leading to oxidative stress. The brain is particularly vulnerable to oxidative stress injury due to its high consumption of oxygen, abundant polyunsaturated fatty acids and low levels of endogenous antioxidants. Many antioxidants are described to block reactive oxygen species- mediated reactions and rescue neurons from ischemia/reperfusion-induced injury in experimental transient middle cerebral artery occlusion models. Aims: Arjunolic acid (AA), (triterpenoidal saponin of Terminalia arjuna ) is a potent antioxidant and neuroprotective in nature. Our study was conducted to investigate its antioxidant potential against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) neuronal injury in middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) rat model. Methods: Arjunolic acid (AA) at doses of 5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg were administered orally for 7 days. After 1 hr of drug administration on the 7 th day, rats were anaesthetized with chloral hydrate and subjected to MCAO for 2 h and reperfusion for 22 h. Behavioural parameters like neurological deficit, grip strength, adhesive removal test, infarct volume, brain water content, histological changes and oxidative stress markers like superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, malondialdehyde (MDA), carbonyl content, mitochondria generated reactive oxygen species, reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GSH- Px) were evaluated after 22 h of reperfusion. Results: In comparision with MCAO group, treatment with Arjunolic acid (AA) significantly reduced the altered behavioural and neurochemical changes associated with I/R neuronal injury. Conclusion: Taken together, these results suggested that Arjunolic acid showed neuroprotection against I/R induced neuronal injury through its antioxidant action.