INHIBITORY EFFECTS OF BYHWD ON ROS GENERATION IN STROKE RAT BRAIN TISSUES
补阳还五汤对中风大鼠脑组织中ROS生成的抑制作用

The molecular mechanism leading to stroke remains unclear until now. A number of clinic researches demonstrate that Buyan Huanwu decoction (BYHWD), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) recipe, has a significant curative effect on brain stroke. However, the molecular mechanism of BYHWD's pharmacological effect is not clear too. In this study, cryogenic electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and spin trapping techniques were used to detect the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in stroke rat brain. They were also used to evaluate the inhibitory effect of BYHWD on the generation of ROS (including nitric oxide) in the stroke brain tissues, on O2- and 'OH free radicals in chemical mimic system in vitro as well. The results show that there is a significant increase of ROS generation in stroke rat brain tissues. This increase can be suppressed by BYHWD. Besides, BYHWD has a great scavenge potency on O2- and 'OH free radicals in chemical mimic system in vitro. These findings suggest that the increase of ROS generation may be an important factor that induces the stroke. Furthermore, the inhibition on ROS may dictate the underlying mechanism regulated by BYHWD. They also suggest that EPR technique can be used to explore the pharmacological mechanism of TCM recipe, which is of significance to the modernization of TCM recipe.