紅麴發酵產物改善腦中風大鼠記憶學習能力效果之研究

Abstract

腦中風再灌流 (cerebral stroke reperfusion) 之傷害過程包含氧化壓力產生、引發細胞凋亡等，本研究使用八週齡大之雄性 Sprague-Dawley 大鼠，以雙側總頸動脈阻斷再灌流之手術引發腦中風，造成學習記憶能力之衰退，而紅麴米萃取物及二次代謝物 lovastatin 能有效改善大鼠記憶功能損傷。腦中風使大鼠腦中之 glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) 表現量增加，而紅麴米萃取物及二次代謝物 lovastatin 能降低其表現，另外亦能降低腦中氧化壓力及凋亡現象，對照劑 melatonin 也加入評估，而效果不顯著。本研究結果顯示紅麴能增加抗氧化酵素活性並減少malondialdehyde (MDA) 之產生，抑制凋亡現象及降低 GFAP 表現，而最後改變腦中風造成之記憶學習能力損傷，且效果較 melatonin佳。證明紅麴米萃取物及二次代謝物 lovastatin 能夠延緩並改善腦中風之病理狀況。

Oxidative stress and apoptosis induced from cerebral stroke-reperfusion are involved in the cerebral stroke and reperfusion processes of impairment. In this research, every male Sprague-Dawley rats accept bilateral common carotid artery occlusion-reperfusion operation to induce memory and learning ability impairment of stroke. We examined the beneficial effects of the extract and secondary metabolite of red mold rice (RMR) in this model. The extract and secondary metabolite of RMR could improve cognitive impairment in behavior tests. We also found that extract and secondary metabolite of RMR reduce the expression of red mold rice glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) which is elevated by stroke. Furthermore, the extract and secondary metabolite of RMR could reduce oxidative stress and apoptosis in rat’s brain. Effects of melatonin, as a contrast agent, was also examined in this research and show no significant improvement. This research shows that by suppressing lipid peroxidation and activating antioxidant enzyme, the extract and secondary metabolite of RMR could reduce oxidative stress and apoptosis and then ameliorates stroke pathology finally. Thus, protects rats against the impairment of memory and learning ability induced by stroke. In addition, these advantageous effects of the extract and secondary metabolite of RMR on stroke are even better than melatonin. This research proves that the extract and secondary metabolite of RMR could protect the brain from stroke and have multifunctional property in stroke treatment.