Protective effects of total flavones of rhododendra on cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury

This study was to investigate the protective effects and possible mechanisms of total flavones of rhododendra (TFR) against cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury in rats and mice. Cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury was induced by occluding the right middle cerebral artery (MCA). Infarct volume, neurological deficit, brain water content, levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO) contents, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in plasma and brain, levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities and mRNA expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in brain were evaluated 7 or 10 days after treatment. TFR significantly reduced infarct volume, ameliorated the neurological deficit and reduced the brain water content. The activities of SOD, LDH and GPX in brain were enhanced, while the activity of LDH in plasma and the contents of MDA and NO in plasma and brain were decreased. While, the expression of iNOS and nNOS mRNA in brain were down-regulated, the expression of eNOS mRNA in the brain was up-regulated. These results suggest that TFR has protective effects for cerebral injury in rats and mice, which might be associated with its antioxidant properties and ability to regulate the expression of NOS isoforms.