Protective effect of tetramethylpyrazine on ischemic neuronal damage in the gerbil hippocampus

: The effect of tetramethylpyrazine on ischemic neuronal damage was studied in gerbil hippocampus in the terms of histopathological change and cerebral tissue lipid peroxides. Fifteen-five Mongolian gerbils were randomly assigned to one of three groups: sham-operated as control, subjected to 12 min global cerebral ischemia followed by 7 day spontaneous circulatory reperfusion, in which animals were treated with either ip. physiological saline or 60 mg/kg of tetramethylpyrazine 30 min before ischemia and daily thereafter for 7 days. The number of survival pyramidal neurons in the CA1 was counted: 263 +/- 8 (cell/mm) in the sham-operated group, 20 +/- 6 in the ischemia group, and 189 +/- 56 in the group treated with tetramethylpyrazine. Changes in lipid peroxides, expressed as malondialdehyde (MDA), was 134.5 +/- 5.0 nmol/g tissue in the sham-operated group, 193.5 +/- 5.1 in the ischemia group, and 137.6 +/- 10.8 in the group treated with tetramethylpyrazine. These results indicate that tetramethylpyrazine has a protective effect on the ischemic neuronal damage in hippocampus. Free radicals and free calcium may play an important role in pyramidal neuron necrosis in hippocampus following cerebral ischemia.