title: Effects of Astragaloside IV combined with the active components of Panax notoginseng on oxidative stress injury and nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2/heme oxygenase-1 signaling pathway after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion in mice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Astragalus and Panax notoginseng are traditional Chinese Medicines used for the treatments of ischemic cerebrovascular disease, being often combined together in China and achieving a good effect.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of astragaloside-IV (AST-IV) (the effective component of Astragalus) combined with ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Rb1, notoginsenoside R1 (the effective components of P. notoginseng) on oxidative stress injury after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion in mice, and to explore the mechanisms through nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor-2/heme oxygenase-1 (Nrf2/HO-1) signaling pathway.
  
  
  METHODS
  C57BL/6 mice were randomly grouped after treated for 3 days, the model of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury was established, and the brain tissues were detected.
  
  
  RESULTS
  AST-IV combined with ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Rb1, notoginsenoside R1 could increase significantly the survival rate of nerve cell; decrease the contents of malondialdehyde, nitric oxide, increase the activity of superoxide dismutase and the level of glutathione; Nrf2 was down-regulated in the cytoplasm while up-regulated in nucleus, nuclear translocation rate raised as well as HO-1 messenger ribonucleic acid and protein expressions increased. The effects of four active components combination were better than those of the active components alone.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Active components of Astragalus and P. notoginseng had the effects against cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury, which were related to the antioxidative stress after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion. AST-IV combined with ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Rb1, notoginsenoside R1 could strengthen the antagonism effects on ischemia-reperfusion and oxidative stress injury, the mechanism underlying might be associated with jointly activating Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Pathology Laboratory, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Hunan, China ; Key Laboratory of Hunan Province for Prevention and Treatment of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine on Cardiocerebral Diseases, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Ping
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Hunan Universities for Cell Biology and Molecular Techniques Changsha 410208, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Yong-Yuan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Hunan Universities for Cell Biology and Molecular Techniques Changsha 410208, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Bei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Hunan Universities for Cell Biology and Molecular Techniques Changsha 410208, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Huang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Hunan Universities for Cell Biology and Molecular Techniques Changsha 410208, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Ying-Hong
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Hunan Universities for Cell Biology and Molecular Techniques Changsha 410208, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Molecular Pathology Laboratory, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Chang-Qing
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Deng
keywords: Astragaloside IV; combination; ginsenoside Rb1; ginsenoside Rg1; notoginsenoside R1; nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor-2/heme oxygenase