[Frontiers in Bioscience E4,809-817, January 1, 2012]

Traditional Chinese herbal medicine and cerebral ischemia

Yuh-Fung Chen1

1Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, China Medical University,91 Hseuh-Shih Road, Taichung City, Taiwan 40402, Republic of China

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
2.1. Pathophysiology of Cerebral ischemia
2.1.1. Brain inflammation
2.1.2. Excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, and apoptosis
2.2. Traditional Chinese Medicine and cerebral ischemia
2.2.1. Proposed mechanisms of action underlying the neuroprotective effects of traditional Chinese herbal medicine
2.2.2. Traditional Chinese herbal medicine for cerebral ischemia
2.2.2.1. Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels, Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort
2.2.2.2. Ligusticum wallichii Franchat
2.2.2.3 ...Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews and Paeonia lactiflora Pall
2.2.2.4. Panax ginse ng and Panax notoginseng Burk
2.2.2.5. Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge
2.2,2.6. Sophora japonica L.
2.2.2.7. Stephania tetrandra S. Moore
2.2.3. Traditional Chinese medicine prescription for cerebral ischemia
2.2.3.1. Kueichih-Fuling-Wan
2.2.3.2. Sheng-mai-san
3. Conclusion
4. Acknowledgements
5. References

1. ABSTRACT

Stroke is an important cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide but effective therapeutic strategy for the prevention of brain injury in patients with cerebral ischemia is lacking. Although tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) has been used to treat stroke patients, this therapeutic strategy is confronted with ill side effects and is limited to patients within 3 hours of a stroke. Stroke-mediated cell death is a complex interplay of aberrant events involving excitotoxicity, acidosis, inflammation, oxidative stress, peri-infarct depolarization, and apoptosis. Due to the complexity of the events and the disappointing results from single agent trials, the combination of thrombolytic therapy and effective neural protection therapy may be an alternative strategy for patients with cerebral ischemia. Traditional Chinese herbal medicine has been described in ancient medicine systems as a treatment for various ailments associated with stroke. Recently, there have been reports of its benefits in treating stroke. This review will focus on various traditional Chinese herbal medicines and their neuroprotective effects on cerebral ischemia.