Danhong injection (DHI), a Chinese Materia Medica standardized product extracted from Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae and Flos Carthami tinctorii, is widely used in China for treating acute isch-emic stroke. In the present study, we explored the neuroprotective efifcacy of DHI in a rat model of temporary middle cerebral artery occlusion, and evaluated the potential mechanisms under-lying its effects. Pretreatment with DHI (0.9 and 1.8 mL/kg) resulted in a signiifcantly smaller infarct volume and better neurological scores than pretreatment with saline. Furthermore, DHI significantly reduced the permeability of the blood-brain barrier, increased occludin protein expression and decreased neutrophil inifltration, as well as profoundly suppressing the upreg-ulation of matrix metallopeptidase-9 expression seen in rats that had received vehicle. Matrix metallopeptidase-2 expression was not affected by ischemia or DHI. Moreover, DHI (1.8 mL/kg) administered 3 hours after the onset of ischemia also improved neurological scores and reduced infarct size. Our results indicate that the neuroprotective efifcacy of DHI in a rat model of ce-rebral ischemia-reperfusion injury is mediated by a protective effect on the blood-brain barrier and the reversal of neutrophil inifltration.

The cerebral ischemia-reperfusion model was established using the suture occlusion method, and rats were intraperitoneal y given 8 mL/kg Danhong injection once a day prior to model establishment. Rat brain tissues were harvested at 6, 24, 48, 72 hours after reperfusion. Immunohistochemical staining showed that transforming growth factor-β1 expression increased, while Golgi matrix protein GM130 expression decreased after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion. Danhong injection was shown to significantly up-regulate the expression of transforming growth factor-β1 and GM130, and expres-sion levels peaked at 7 days after reperfusion. At 7 days after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion, Golgi morphology was damaged in untreated rats, while Golgi morphology breakage was not observed after intervention with Danhong injection. These experimental findings indicate that Danhong injec-tion can up-regulate the expression of transforming growth factor-β1 and GM130, and maintain Golgi stability, thus playing a neuroprotective role in rats after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion.