Chinese Herbal Medicine and Stroke - A Short Review

JHMR: http://escipub.com/journal-of-herbal-medicine-research/ 0007 Figure 1 Beta-asarone down-regulates stroke injury through decreasing autophagy. Xu, JHMR, 2016; Vol. 1(1): 0007-0009 JHMR: http://escipub.com/journal-of-herbal-medicine-research/ 0008 INTRODUCTION Stroke is one of the primary cause of longterm disability, no matter in developing or developed countries. In United States of America, stroke leads to 130, 000 deaths each year [1]. In China, the annual mortality rate of stroke is about 1,600,000, which became the top reason of death and disability[2]. There are mainly two types of stroke namely ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. The ischemic stroke is the major type of stroke. It happens as a result of blood clots that blocks the brain blood supply and represents 87% of all stroke cases[3]. Hemorrhagic stroke occurs due to blood vessel ruptures. It has two sub-types including intracerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage, and accounts for about 20%[4]. Although mounting studies focused on stroke research, currently, only available treatment for stroke is t-PA, with the limitation of a very narrow therapeutic window because of the risk of hemorrhage[5]. So new therapeutic methods for stoke are excepted. Chinese herbal medicine has been used to treat stroke with a history of many centuries and is stilling wildly used in China[6]. This review will focus on reporting the research progress of the Chinese herbal medicine including Acorus tatarinowii Schott, Borneol and Moschus in stroke. Acorus tatarinowii Schott Acorus tatarinowii Schott has been wildly used in treating stroke in China for thousands of years, although its molecular mechanism were not clear. Recent studies suggest that beta-asarone, the major component of Acorus tatarinowii Schott, has significant pharmacological effects on stroke[7]. In vivo, beta-asarone could reduce stroke injury and ischemia–reperfusion-induced autophagy by modulating JNK, p-JNK, Bcl-2 and Beclin 1 (Figure 1). Meanwhile, in vitro, beta-asarone can protect PC12 cells against oxygen-glucose deprivation and reperfusioninduced stroke injury through decreasing Beclin-1dependent autophagy[8]. Other mechanism is that beta-asarone significantly helps the recovery by restoration of the antioxidant homeostasis in the brain after stroke[9].