Effects of Ginkgo biloba extract on acute cerebral ischemia in rats analyzed by magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
OBJECTIVE
To study the effect of Ginkgo biloba extract (GbE) on acute cerebral ischemia in rats.


METHODS
The rats were randomly divided into four groups: sham-operated group (group I as control), ischemic group (group II), the prophylactic (GbE premedication) group (group III) and GbE-treatment group (group IV). Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was carried out to dynamically monitor the changes in biochemical metabolic variations 48 h after cerebral ischemia and effects of GbE (100 mg/kg, ip, qd).


RESULTS
(1) Lactate (Lac) peak could be detectable at the infarction area 90 min after acute cerebral ischemia and increased with time. Lac peak in the prophylactic group was elevated slightly (P<0.01, n=6), whereas in the treatment group the elevation of Lac was more remarkable than that in the prophylactic group (P<0.05, n=6). (2) In the ischemic group, the level of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) was decreased within 4 h after ischemia (P<0.05, n=6), and the decline persisted (P<0.01, n=6). In the treatment group and prophylactic group, NAA was decreased slightly after 24 h (P<0.05, n=6). (3)Twenty-four hours after ischemia, in both ischemic group and treatment group, choline (Cho) was elevated slightly (P<0.05, n=6) and creatine (Cr) was decreased slightly (P<0.05, n=6), but in the prophylactic group these changes occurred only after 48 h.


CONCLUSIONS
GbE could prevent and treat acute cerebral ischemia. The effectiveness was more satisfactory when GbE was used preventively.
Department of Neurology, Union Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China. penghai493@sohu.com
Hai
H
Peng
Yue-Fen
YF
Li
Sheng-Gang
SG
Sun
D000818:Animals; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002794:Choline / Q000378:metabolism; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D020441:Ginkgo biloba / Q000737:chemistry*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D007773:Lactates / Q000378:metabolism; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D007773:Lactates; D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine; D002794:Choline