The Chinese herbal formula
Tongluo Jiunao, containing the active components Panax notoginseng and Gardenia jasminoides, has recently been patented and is in use clinically. It is known to be neuroprotective in
cerebral ischemia, but the underlying pathway remains poorly understood. In the present study, we established a rat model of
cerebral ischemia by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery, and administered
Tongluo Jiunao, a positive control (Xuesai Tong, containing Panax notoginseng) or saline intraperitoneally to investigate the pathway involved in the action of
Tongluo Jiunao injection.
2,3,5-Triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining showed that the
cerebral infarct area was significantly smaller in model rats that received
Tongluo Jiunao than in those that received saline.
Enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay revealed significantly greater expression of
neurotrophin 3 and
growth-associated protein 43 in ischemic cerebral tissue, and serum levels of
neurotrophin 3, in the
Tongluo Jiunao group than in the saline group. The reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical staining showed that
after treatment with
Tongluo Jiunao or Xuesai Tong,
tropomyosin-related
kinase C gene expression and immunoreactivity were significantly elevated compared with saline, with the greatest expression observed after
Tongluo Jiunao treatment. These findings suggest that
Tongluo Jiunao injection exerts a
neuroprotective effect in rats with
cerebral ischemia by activating the
neurotrophin 3/
tropomyosin-related
kinase C pathway.