Bioactive components of Chinese herbal medicine enhance endogenous neurogenesis in animal models of ischemic stroke: A systematic analysis

Background: Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been used to treat stroke for thousands of years. The objective of the study is to assess the current evidence for bioactive components of CHM as neurogenesis agent in animal models of ischemic stroke. Methods: We searched PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang Database, and VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals published from the inception up to November 2015. The primary measured outcome was one of neurogenesis biomarker, including Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), Nestin, doublecortin (DCX), polysialylated form of the neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM), neuronal nuclear antigen (NeuN), and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Results: Thirty eligible studies were identified. The score of quality assessment ranged from 2 of 10 to 7 of 10. Compared with controls, 10 studies conducting neurobehavioral evaluation showed significant effects on bioactive components of CHM for improving neurological deficits score after ischemic insults (P  Conclusion: The findings suggest that bioactive components of CHM may improve neurological function, reduce infarct volume, and promote endogenous neurogenesis, including proliferation, migration, and differentiation of neural stem cells after ischemic stroke. However, evidences are supported but limited because only a few studies were available for each descriptive analysis. Further rigor study is still needed.