Effects of Ligusticum wallichii on the plasma and CSF levels of dynorphin A1-13 in rabbits under acute experimental cerebral ischemia

By occluding the bilateral carotid arteries of rabbits to produce bilateral partial cerebral ischemia, and by using radioimmunoassays to measure the levels of dynorphin A1-13 like immunoreactivity (ir-Dyn A1-13) in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the authors find that the levels of ir-Dyn A1-13 in plasma and CSF have significantly increased (P less than 0.01) after cerebral ischemia appears. The result of the Ligusticum wallichii Franch (Ligusticum) pretreatment to the test-group shows a definite improvement of the changes of ir-Dyn A1-13 levels in plasma and CSF. The severity of brain ischemic damage and neurologic dysfunction in Ligusticum-treated animals is lighter than that of saline-treated group, too. In this study, some new approaches are explored to explain the pathophysiology of cerebral ischemia and the mechanisms by which Ligusticum prevents and treats cerebral ischemia.