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Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering

ISSN 2095-7505

ISSN 2095-977X(Online)

CN 10-1204/S

Postal Subscription Code 80-906

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Front. Agr. Sci. Eng.    2019, Vol. 6 Issue (2) : 197-205    https://doi.org/10.15302/J-FASE-2018245
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Leonurine protects ischemia-induced brain injury via modulating SOD, MDA and GABA levels
Shilei ZHENG, Jingru ZHU, Jiao LI, Shuang ZHANG, Yunfei MA()
College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
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Abstract

The present study was designed to investigate the protective effects of leonurine, a compound purified from Herba Leonuri that is active on ischemic rat behavior and cortical neurons, and explore the underlying mechanism. The general rat activity, cortical neuron morphology, superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), g-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate decarboxylase 67 (GAD67) levels were measured. We found leonurine significantly improve the general activity of rats in an open-field test, which was associated with attenuated neuronal damage induced by ischemia. Moreover, serum SOD activity was significantly greater, MDA level lower in the leonurine group as compared with ischemia group. In addition, GABA content in the cerebral cortex was significantly greater in high-dose leonurine group. Correspondingly, GAD67 protein level coincided with the GABA level. Taken together, our results demonstrated that leonurine attenuated brain injury during ischemia via antioxidative and anti-excitotoxicity effects by targeting GABA and leonurine might become a useful adjuvant neuroprotective agent.
Keywords cerebral ischemia      GABA      neuroprotection      leonurine      SOD     
Corresponding Author(s): Yunfei MA   
Just Accepted Date: 30 October 2018   Online First Date: 03 December 2018    Issue Date: 22 May 2019
 Cite this article:   
Shilei ZHENG,Jingru ZHU,Jiao LI, et al. Leonurine protects ischemia-induced brain injury via modulating SOD, MDA and GABA levels[J]. Front. Agr. Sci. Eng. , 2019, 6(2): 197-205.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fase/EN/10.15302/J-FASE-2018245
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fase/EN/Y2019/V6/I2/197
Fig.1  Effect of leonurine on the neurobehavior of rats according to open-field test. Sham, Ischemia, Leo-L, Leo-M and Leo-H stand for the sham-operated, cerebral ischemia model, low-dose leonurine, middle-dose leonurine and high-dose leonurine groups, respectively; * indicates the comparison between the ischemia model and sham-operated groups (P<0.05); # indicates the comparison between the leonurine treatment and ischemia model group (P<0.05).
Fig.2  Effect of leonurine on serum MDA and SOD levels in rats. Sham, Ischemia, Leo-L, Leo-M and Leo-H stand for the sham-operated, cerebral ischemia model, low-dose leonurine, middle-dose leonurine and high-dose leonurine groups, respectively; ** indicates the comparison between the ischemia model and sham-operated groups (P<0.01); ## indicates the comparison between the leonurine treatment and ischemia model groups (P<0.01).
Fig.3  Effect of leonurine on cortical morphological architecture according to Nissl staining. Sham, Ischemia, Leo-L, Leo-M and Leo-H stand for the sham-operated, cerebral ischemia model, low-dose leonurine, middle-dose leonurine and high-dose leonurine groups, respectively.
Fig.4  Effect of leonurine on NeuN-positive cells in the cerebral cortex of rats. Sham, Ischemia, Leo-L, Leo-M and Leo-H stand for the sham-operated, cerebral ischemia model, low-dose leonurine, middle-dose leonurine and high-dose leonurine groups, respectively; ** indicates the comparison between the ischemia model and sham-operated groups (P<0.01); ## indicates the comparison between the leonurine treatment and ischemia model groups (P<0.01).
Fig.5  Effect of leonurine on GABA content in the cerebral cortex of rats. Sham, Ischemia, Leo-L, Leo-M and Leo-H stand for the sham-operated, cerebral ischemia model, low-dose leonurine, middle-dose leonurine and high-dose leonurine groups, respectively; * indicates the comparison between the ischemia model and sham-operated groups (P<0.05); # indicates the comparison between the leonurine treatment and ischemia model groups (P<0.05).
Fig.6  Effect of leonurine on GAD67 content in the cerebral cortex of rats. Sham, Ischemia, Leo-L, Leo-M and Leo-H stand for the sham-operated, cerebral ischemia model, low-dose leonurine, middle-dose leonurine and high-dose leonurine groups, respectively; * indicates the comparison between the ischemia model and sham-operated groups (P<0.05); ** indicates the comparison between the ischemia model and sham-operated groups (P<0.01); # indicates the comparison between the leonurine treatment and ischemia model groups (P<0.05).
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