Neuroprotective effect of Panax notoginseng plysaccharides against focal cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury in rats

Our present study was conducted to investigate whether Panax notoginseng plysaccharides (PNPS) exerted a neuroprotective effect against focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in rats. Before mice were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 2 h and reperfusion for 22 h, PNPS at the doses of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg was administered once a day intragastrically for continuous 7 days. Oral administration of PNPS could significantly reduce the severity of neurological deficits, infarct volumes, cerebral edema, and neuronal death caused by MCAO in rats. Moreover, in the presence of PNPS, the Bcl-2/Bax ratio increased, but the level of cleaved caspase-3 reduced. Thus, these finding suggested that suppressing apoptosis through increasing Bcl-2/Bax ratio and evoking caspase-3 cascade should be potential mechanism by which PNPS exerts its neuroprotective function against focal cerebral I/R injury.