title: Beneficial effect of Sparassis crispa on stroke through activation of Akt/eNOS pathway in brain of SHRSP.
abstract: Sparassis crispa (S. crispa) is a mushroom used as a natural medicine that recently became cultivatable in Japan. In this study, we investigated not only the preventive effects of S. crispa against stroke and hypertension in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) but also the mechanism involved by using studies of the cerebral cortex at a young age. Six-week-old male SHRSP were divided into 2 groups, a control group and an S. crispa group administered 1.5% S. crispa in feed, and we then observed their survival. In addition, rats of the same age were treated with 1.5% S. crispa for 4 weeks and we measured body weight, blood pressure, blood flow from the tail, NO(x) production, and the levels of expression of several proteins in the cerebral cortex by western blot analysis. Our results showed that the S. crispa group had a delayed incidence of stroke and death and significantly decreased blood pressure and increased blood flow after the administration. Moreover, the quantity of urinary excretion and the nitrate/nitrite concentration in cerebral tissue were higher than those of control SHRSP rats. In the cerebral cortex, phosphor-eNOS (Ser1177) and phosphor-Akt (Ser473) in S. crispa-treated SHRSP were increased compared with those of control SHRSP rats. In conclusion, S. crispa could ameliorate cerebrovascular endothelial dysfunction by promoting recovery of Akt-dependent eNOS phosphorylation and increasing NO production in the cerebral cortex. S. crispa may be useful for preventing stroke and hypertension.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mukogawa Women's University, 11-68 Koshien Kyuban-cho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8179, Japan.
authors.forename: Hisae
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshitomi
authors.forename: Emiko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Iwaoka
authors.forename: Masahide
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D000363:Agaricales / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III / Q000378:metabolism*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D011918:Rats, Inbred SHR; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D020521:Stroke / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt