Anti-oxidant Effect of Gastrodin in Epilepsy Rats

［Abstract］Objective To explo the antioxidant effect and molecular mechanism of gastrodin（Gas） in epilepsy（EP） rats induced by LiCl-pilocarpine（PILO）. Methods Eighty male SD rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: sham group， EP group， therapy groups（pretreated with 60 mg/kg， 90 mg/kg， 120 mg/kg of gastrodin respectively）. The EP model was esteblished by peritoneal injection of LiCl-PILO. Therapy groups were pretreated with various concerntration of Gas. The control group was given the same dosage of normal saline. The alteration of behavior was observed，the concentration of catalase（CAT），glutathion（GSH）， superoxide dismutase（SOD），glutathion reductase（GR）， total antioxidtion（T-AOC） and malondialdehyde（MDA） in rats brain cortex were detected by chemical colorimetric method， phosphorylation of p38 was determined by western blot. Results There was no EP seizure in sham group，and the EP seizure degree in therapy groups（gas pretreated groups） was significantly decreased，and had statistically significant difference with EP group（P＜0.05）. The EP model rats exhibited a significant decrease in the concentration of endogenous antioxidants（CAT， GSH， SOD， GR and T-AOC），while an increase of the concentration of MDA and phosphorylation p38 protein as compared to sham group（P＜0.05）. After treatment of the Gas，treatment group rats attenuated the seizure degree，exhibited a significant increase of the concentration of endogenous antioxidants（P＜0.05），while a decrease in concentration of MDA and phosphorylation of p38 as compared to model group（P＜0.05）. Conclusion Gas may have a neuroprotective role in central nervous system of epileptic rats modle by down-regulateing the seizure degree and the activity of p38 kinase and up-regulateing the content of endogenous antioxidants.