Jisuikang, a chinese herbal formula, increases neurotrophic factor expression and promotes the recovery of neurological function after spinal cord injury

Yang Guo, Yong Ma, Ya-lan Pan, Su-yang Zheng, Jian-wei Wang, Gui-cheng Huang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Chinese medicine compound, Jisuikang, can promote recovery of neurological function by inhibiting lipid peroxidation, scavenging oxygen free radicals, and effectively improving the local microenvironment after spinal cord injury. However, the mechanism remains unclear. Thus, we established a rat model of acute spinal cord injury using a modified version of Allen’s method. Jisuikang (50, 25, and 12.5 g/kg/d) and prednisolone were administered 30 minutes after anesthesia. Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan locomotor scale scores and the oblique board test showed improved motor function recovery in the prednisone group and moderate-dose Jisuikang group compared with the other groups at 3-7 days post-injury. The rats in the moderate-dose Jisuikang group recovered best at 14 days post-injury. Hematoxylin-eosin staining and transmission electron microscopy showed that the survival rate of neurons in treatment groups increased after 3-7 days of administration. Further, the structure of neurons and glial cells was more distinct, especially in prednisolone and moderate-dose Jisuikang groups. Western blot assay and immunohistochemistry showed that expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in injured segments was maintained at a high level after 7-14 days of treatment. In contrast, expression of nerve growth factor (NGF) was down-regulated at 7 days after spinal cord injury. Real- time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed that expression of BDNF and NGF mRNA was induced in injured segments by prednisolone and Jisuikang. At 3-7 days after injury, the effect of prednisolone was greater, while 14 days after injury, the effect of moderate- dose Jisuikang was greater. These results confirm that Jisuikang can upregulate BDNF and NGF expression for a prolonged period after spinal cord injury and promote repair of acute spinal cord injury, with its effect being similar to prednisolone.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1519-1528
Number of pages10
JournalNeural Regeneration Research
Volume12
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Open Access - Access Right Statement

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/), which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Jisuikang, a chinese herbal formula, increases neurotrophic factor expression and promotes the recovery of neurological function after spinal cord injury'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this