Salvia miltiorrhiza attenuates white matter injury induced by hypoperfusion in neonatal rats / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:Premature birth is a major global health problem associated with high mortality and morbidity.White matter injury is the most common brain injury in preterm infants.Salvia miltiorrhiza is a traditional herbal plant that is commonly used to treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in Asian countries. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the therapeutic effect of Salvia miltiorrhiza on white matter injury in preterm infants. METHODS:Eighteen neonatal male Sprague-Dawley rats at 3-day gestational age were selected and randomized into normal group,white matter injury group,and Salvia miltiorrhiza group.Animal models of preterm white matter injury were established by permanent ligation of the right common carotid artery in the latter two groups.Rats in the Salvia miltiorrhiza group were given intraperitoneal injection of Salvia miltiorrhiza(5 mg/kg·d)for 7 consecutive days.Normal group and white matter injury group were given the same volume of PBS for intervention.On the 14th day after modeling,the rats were sacrificed.Brains were pathologically observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining under microscope,and the expression levels of myelin basic protein and CC1 in brain tissue were visualized using immunofluorescence.Furthermore,liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to analyze possible pathways for the action of Salvia miltiorrhiza. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:In the white matter injury group,the structure of the corpus callosum was irregular and the cells appeared swollen and necrotic.In addition,induction of white matter injury resulted in significantly reduced myelin formation,with irregular and loosely arranged nerve fibers and significantly decreased myelin sheaths.Interestingly,white matter injury rats treated with Salvia miltiorrhiza had reduced cellular swelling,reduced lesions,and increased myelin sheaths.The expression of myelin basic protein was closely related to myelin formation,and CC1 was a marker of myelin oligodendrocytes.Salvia miltiorrhiza significantly up-regulated the expressions of myelin basic protein and CC1 in white matter injury rats(P＜0.000 1),indicating that Salvia miltiorrhiza alleviated white matter injury.Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis showed that the therapeutic effect of Salvia miltiorrhiza in the rat model of white matter injury was closely related to the regulation of complement and coagulation cascades.To conclude,Salvia miltiorrhiza may be a potential therapeutic agent for treating preterm white matter injury.