Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Shenxiong Drop Pill exerts neuroprotective effect against focal cerebral ischemia partly via regulation of the expressions of ICAM-1 and caspase-3

Shuo-guo Jin¹, Ze-ran Chen², Yang Zhang³, Meng-yuan Huang¹, Meng Hou¹, Ning-jing Ran¹, Wei-yin Chen¹, Fang Yang¹ , Xin-xia Zhang⁴

¹Department of Neurology, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 610072; ²School of Medical and Life Sciences, ? Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 611137; ³Department of Infectious Diseases, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 610072; ⁴Department of Endocrinology, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 610072, Sichuan Province, PR China.

For correspondence:- Fang Yang Email: 348368834@qq.com

Accepted: 27 September 2021 Published: 31 October 2021

Citation: Jin S, Chen Z, Zhang Y, Huang M, Hou M, Ran N, et al. Shenxiong Drop Pill exerts neuroprotective effect against focal cerebral ischemia partly via regulation of the expressions of ICAM-1 and caspase-3. Trop J Pharm Res 2021; 20(10):2015-2022 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v20i10.1

© 2021 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the effect of Shenxiong Drop Pill (SXDP) on cerebral infarction (CI) in rats, and the involvement of anti-inflammatory response in the process.

Methods: Rats were sacrificed at three different time points, viz, 24, 48 and 72 h after establishment of CI model. Neurological deficit score (NDS) was determined using Bederson’s neurological behavioral scoring method, whereas triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining was used to show brain injury. The integrated optical density (IOD) of Nissl bodies and caspase-3-positive nerve cells were measured with Nissl staining and SP kit, respectively. The mRNA expression of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) was determined using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Results: SXDP produced neuroprotective effect at high, medium, and low doses. The infarct volumes in the high-, medium- and low-dose SXDP, and cyclophosphamide groups were significantly reduced at each time point. Different doses of SXDP significantly reduced the mRNA expression of ICAM-1 and the IOD of caspase-3.

Conclusion: These results indicate that SXDP exerts neuroprotective effects against ischemic injury by negatively regulating ICAM-1/caspase-3 downstream of inflammatory and apoptosis pathways.

Keywords: Acute ischemic stroke, Neuroprotection, Inflammation, Middle cerebral artery occlusion, Caspase-3, Intercellular adhesion molecule 1