OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of in vitro cultured calculus bovis (ICCB) on cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury (CIRI) and its mechanism. METHODS: A CIRI rat model and a cell model were induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in Sprague Dawley rats and oxygen glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) in BV2 cells, respectively. The CIRI rat model was evaluated using the modified neurological severity score (mNSS), brain water content, and cerebral infarction volume after 1.5 h of ischemia followed by 72 h of reperfusion. Histopathological changes in the cortex and hippocampal CA1 region were observed with hematoxylin and eosin staining. Microglial polarization and NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein (NLRP) 3 inflammasome expression in the cortex were examined by immunofluorescence. BV2 cell viability was measured via MTT assay after treatment with ICCB and Nigericin. The expressions of NLRP3, ASC, caspase-1 proteins and inflammatory cytokines were detected with Western blotting in OGD/R treated BV2 cells (0.5 h OGD+24 h reperfusion) and in cells pretreated with Nigericin for 24 h. RESULTS: ICCB treatment significantly improved neurological function, reduced cerebral infarct volume and brain water content, and mitigated pathological damage in the cortical and hippocampal CA1 regions of rats subjected to CIRI (all P<0.05). ICCB promoted the transition of cortical microglia from M1 to M2 phenotypes and suppressed NLRP3 activation in microglial cells (all P<0.01). ICCB significantly down-regulated the expression of NLRP3, ASC, and caspase-1 proteins, and reduced the secretion of IL-18 and IL-1β in BV2 cells of OGD/R model (all P<0.01). In addition, Nigericin significantly reversed the salvage effect of ICCB on model cells (both P<0.01) and the modulation of inflammatory cytokines (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS ICCB exerts a protective effect against CIRI by mitigating neuroinflammation, through the reduction of M1 microglial polarization, promotion of M2 conversion, and suppression of the NLRP3/ASC/caspase-1 signaling pathway.
Animals ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury/prevention & control* ; Microglia/metabolism* ; Rats ; NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein ; Brain Ischemia/metabolism* ; Male

OBJECTIVE To study on the identification of traditional Chinese medicine of Macleaya cordata(M. cordata) and its similar varieties. METHODS By consulting the ancient herbal books and modern literature, this paper systematically combs and studies the M. cordata. The morphological identification, microscopic identification, physiochemical identification, molecular identification were used to identify M. cordata and its similar varieties. RESULTS Obtained M. cordata herbal textual research data. There were some differences between M. cordata and Macleaya microcarpa(M. microcarpa) and other similar varieties in traits, microscopic, physicochemical and molecular characteristics. Molecular identification results showed that the length of the rbcL gene of M. cordata were 600 bp to 603 bp, with the average GC content ranging from 43.95% to 44.28%. There were significant differences in the variation sites between M. cordata and other similar varieties, and the variation sites with M. microcarpa were the least. The interspecific genetic distance between M. cordata and its similar varieties was greater than its maximum intraspecific genetic distance. NJ analysis results of rbcL could effectively distinguish M. cordata from other similar varieties accurately and quickly. There were significant differences in the secondary structure of rbcL between M. cordata and its similar varieties. CONCLUSION The traditional Chinese medicine identification methods of M. cordata, M. microcarpa and other similar varieties are constructed, which provides experimental basis for the variety identification of M. cordata and the subsequent development of traditional Chinese medicine resources.