title: Paeoniflorin attenuates hippocampal damage in a rat model of vascular dementia.
abstract: Paeoniflorn (PF), the principal bioactive component ofPaeoniae radixprescribed in traditional Chinese medicine, possesses a wide range of biological effects and exhibits neuroprotective effects in numerous diseases. Previous studies have demonstrated that PF significantly attenuates memory impairment in rats with vascular dementia (VD). In the present study, a bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO) rat model was used to explore the underlying mechanisms of PF. The expression levels of neuron-specific enolase (NSE), S100β, B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2 associated X protein, cytochromecand brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus were measured by western blot analysis. The results showed that administration of PF for 28 days significantly decreased the expression levels of NSE and S100β, both sensitive markers for brain damage, in vascular dementia (VD) model rats. In addition, PF inhibited the initiation of apoptotic cell death and attenuated the decreased expression levels of BDNF induced by bilateral common carotid artery occlusion. These data confirm the neuroprotective effects of PF on VD and provide a novel insight into the long-term use of PF as a potential treatment in the stages of early cognitive impairment in VD.
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Biomaterial and Novel Drug Delivery Systems, National Research Institute of Family Planning, Beijing 100081, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Li-Li
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing 100850, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, National Research Institute of Family Planning, Beijing 100081, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, National Research Institute of Family Planning, Beijing 100081, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shang-Ming
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, National Research Institute of Family Planning, Beijing 100081, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, National Research Institute of Family Planning, Beijing 100081, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Cui-Ge
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, National Research Institute of Family Planning, Beijing 100081, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shu-Cheng
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: apoptosis; hippocampus; paeoniflorin; vascular dementia