THE EFFECT OF RADIX SALVIAE MILTIORRHIZAE ON VASOACTIVE INTESTINAL PEPTIDE IN CEREBRAL ISCHEMIA:AN ANIMAL EXPERIMENT

The levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide(VIP)in three regions of rat brain were assayed in 62 rats.Bilateral common carotid artery ligation was donein 50 rats.Half an hour before ligation 26 rats weregiven 10 g/kg of Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae(RSM);24 rats were given same volume of normalsaline as controls.A sham operation wasdone in 12 rats.Half an hour(n=30)and 3hours(n=32)after operation,the rats were quicklydecapitated.VIP levels were assayed in cerebralcortex,hippocampus and caudate nucleus,in salin-treated animals,VIP levels of cerebral cortex andcaudate nucleus at 3 hour group were significantlydecreased compared with the sham-operated group.No significant difference was found between RSM-treated and sham-operated groups.The preliminaryresults suggest that VIP may be involved in thepathophysiological procedures of cerebral ischemiaand RSM may attenuate the dysfunction of VIPduring cerebral ischemia.