Fitoterapia 2012-12-01

Comparison of neuroprotective effects of five major lipophilic diterpenoids from Danshen extract against experimentally induced transient cerebral ischemic damage.

Ok Kyu Park, Jung Hoon Choi, Joon Ha Park, In Hye Kim, Bing Chun Yan, Ji Hyeon Ahn, Seung-Hae Kwon, Jae-Chul Lee, Young Sup Kim, Misook Kim, Il-Jun Kang, Jong-Dai Kim, Yun Lyul Lee, Moo-Ho Won

Index: Fitoterapia 83 , 1666-1674, (2012)

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Abstract

We observed neuroprotective effects of five major lipophilic diterpenes derived from Danshen (Radix Salvia miltiorrhiza) extract, such as cryptotanshinone (CTs), dihydrotanshinone I (DTsI), tanshinone I (TsI), tanshinone IIA (TsIIA) and tanshinone IIB (TsIIB), in the hippocampal CA1 region (CA1) against transient ischemic damage in gerbils. These diterpenes were administered 30min before ischemia-reperfusion and the animals were sacrificed 4days after ischemia-reperfusion. In the vehicle-treated-group, cresyl violet positive (CV(+)) cells and neuronal nuclei (NeuN)(+) neurons were significantly decreased in the CA1. However, in the TsI- and CTs-treated-ischemia-groups, CV(+) and NeuN(+) neurons were abundant in the CA1. In the other groups, the number of CV(+) and NeuN(+) neurons was less than the TsI- and CTs-treated-ischemia-groups. In addition, gliosis induced by ischemic damage was apparently blocked in the TsI- and CTs-treated-ischemia-groups. These results suggest that TsI and CTs among five major lipophilic diterpenes have strong potentials for neuroprotection against ischemic damage.Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.