hydroalcoholic extract of anchusa italica protects global cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury via a nitrergic mechanism

Introduction: in stroke models, inducible nitric oxide synthase (inos) expression initiates cellular toxicity due to excessive nitric oxide (no) generation. anchusa italica is a medicinal herb with antiinflammatory, antioxidant and neuroprotective properties. this study evaluated the antioxidant activity and nos mrna expression of the hydroalcoholic extract of anchusa italica (heai) in an experimental stroke model in rats. methods: the stroke model was induced by bilateral occlusion of both common carotid arteries for 60 min. twentyfour hours after surgery, heai (50 and 100 mg/kg i.p.) was injected daily for 10 consecutive days. mrna expression levels of nos subtypes and hippocampal brainderived neurotrophic factor (bdnf) were studied using realtime pcr. besides, hippocampal tissue plus serum concentrations of no and malondialdehyde (mda) were measured. results: heai decreased mda in both serum and hippocampal tissue and also reduced serum no levels. additionally, in the heaitreated groups, a downregulation of inos mrna expression, and an upregulation of bdnf mrna expression were observed. conclusion: the results indicated that the administration of heai even after the onset of ischemia protects the brain from free radical injury and inflammation via a downregulation of inos expression inhibiting no production and an upregulation of bdnf mrna.