%0 Journal Article %A Di Chen %A Jiping Tang %A Nikan H Khatibi %A Mei Zhu %A Yingbo Li %A Chengyuan Wang %A Rong Jiang %A Liu Tu %A Shali Wang %T TREATMENT WITH Z-LIGUSTILIDE, A COMPONENT OF ANGELICA SINENSIS, REDUCES BRAIN INJURY FOLLOWING A SUBARACHNOID HEMORRHAGE IN RATS %D 2011 %R 10.1124/jpet.110.177055 %J Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics %P jpet.110.177055 %X Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a devastating stroke subtype accounting for 3-7% of cases each year. Despite its rarity among the various stroke types, SAH is still responsible for roughly 25% of all stroke fatalities. Although various preventative and therapeutic interventions have been explored for potential neuroprotection following SAH, a considerable percentage of patients still experience serious neurologic and/or cognitive impairments as a result of the primary hemorrhage and/or secondary brain damage that occurs. Z-Ligustilide (LIG), the primary lipophilic component of the Chinese traditional medicine Radix Angelica Sinensis, has been shown to reduce ischemic brain injury via anti-apoptotic pathways. Accordingly, in our study, we investigated the neuroprotective potential of LIG following experimental SAH in rats. Rats with SAH induced using the established double hemorrhage model were administered with or without LIG treatment. Mortality, neurobehavioral evaluation, brain water content, blood brain barrier (BBB) permeability, and vasospasm assessment of the basilar artery were measured on days 3 and 7 after injury. Additional testing was done to evaluate for apoptosis using TUNEL staining as well as immunohistochemistry and western blotting to identify key pro-apoptotic/survival proteins i.e. p53, Bax, Bcl-2 and cleaved caspase-3. The results showed that LIG post-treatment reduced mortality, neurobehavioral deficits, brain edema, BBB permeability, and cerebral vasospasm. Additionally, treatment reduced the number of apoptotic cells in the surrounding brain injury site which accompanied a marked down-regulation of pro-apoptotic proteins, p53 and cleaved caspase-3. Our data suggest that LIG may be an effective therapeutic modality for SAH victims by altering apoptotic mechanisms. %U https://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/jpet/early/2011/03/11/jpet.110.177055.full.pdf