Polygala sabulosa A.W. Bennett extract mitigates motor and cognitive deficits in a mouse model of acute ischemia

AbstractStroke is considered one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The treatment is limited; however, the Brazilian flora has a great source of natural products with therapeutic potentials. Studies with the medicinal plantPolygala sabulosa W. Bennett provided evidence for its use as an anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective drug. In the case of ischemic stroke due to lack of oxygen, both acute and chronic inflammatory processes are activated. Thus, we hypothesized thatP. sabulosa (HEPs) has the potential to treat the motor and cognitive deficits generated by ischemic stroke. Male mice were subjected to global ischemia for 60  min, followed by reperfusion and orally treated with HEPs (100 mg/kg in saline + 3% tween 20) twice a day (12 h apart) for 48 h starting 3 h after surgery. Motor skills were assessed using grip force and open field tasks. Hippocampi were then collected for mRNA quantification of the cytoki nes IL-1-β and TNF-α levels. After 48 h of acute treatment, spatial reference memory was evaluated in a Morris water maze test for another group of animals. We show that HEPs treatment significantly prevented motor weakness induced by ischemia. Brain infarct area was reduced by 22.25% with downre gulation of the levels of IL-1β and TNF-α mRNA. Learning performance and memory ability on Morris water maze task were similar to the sham group. Our data demonstrates the neuroprotective properties of HEPs through its anti-inflammatory activities, which p...
Source: Metabolic Brain Disease - Category: Neurology Source Type: research