Stroke is one of the main causes of disability and death in the world, with ischemic
stroke being the most prevalent. Nowadays, the only pharmacological treatment
available for ischemic stroke is the recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA),
a drug that is widely used due to its short therapeutic window and severe side effects.
Therefore, studies are necessary for the identification of neuroprotective drugs
capable of avoiding secondary injury after acute neural disorders. Piper divaricatum
plant is considered in the folk medicine as possessing both anti-inflammatory and
anti-oxidant effects, with some scientific evidence available. This plant is also used
for treatment of rheumatic diseases. Nevertheless, its potential anti-inflammatory
and neuroprotective effects have not yet been investigated using experimental
models of brain stroke. In this study, the anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective
potential of the supercritical extract of Piper divaricatum (100 mg/kg, i.p) was
investigated using an experimental model of cortical ischemia induced by
microinjections (80 pmol/µl) of endothelin-1 (ET-1) in adult Wistar rats. Six animals
were divided in 2 experimental groups: control group (ET-1 + 5% tween, n = 3) and
treated group (ET-1 + supercritical Piper divaricatum extract, n = 3). The brains were
processed for histological analysis with cresyl violet staining. After histological
analysis, it has been observed tissue pallor, loss of neuronal bodies and
inflammatory infiltrate in the ischemic area of both experimental groups. However, in
the animals treated with supercritical Piper divaricatum extract, there was a decrease
in infarct area and reduction of inflammatory infiltrate. These results suggest that
Piper divaricatum extract, at the investigated concentration, decreases the infiltrate
of inflammatory cells, mainly mononuclear cells, with concomitant neuroprotective
effects after experimental cortical ischemia in adult rats. Future studies, using
specific markers of neurons, leukocytes and glial cells, are necessary to confirm the
results here described.
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