Antioxidant/Restorative Effects of Calcined Gold Preparations Used in Indian Systems of Medicine against Global and Focal Models of Ischaemia

Abstract

Stroke, or ischaemic brain damage, is of great geriatric importance being the third most common cause of death after cancer and heart diseases in developed countries. Despite such high frequency, its management has received inadequate attention. Many studies have shown the role of free radicals in the pathogenesis of ischaemic brain damage. Search for safe and effective antioxidant and free radial scavenger agents, therefore, appear to be a promising approach for stroke therapy. Gold, widely used in modern medicine for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, is highly valued for various medicinal uses in Indian systems of medicine. Traditional gold preparations are attributed with tonic/rejuvenating and antioxidant properties. Our earlier studies revealed interesting analgesic, immunostimulant, adaptogenic and glycogen sparing properties in these preparations, but their effects in cerebral ischaemia have not been investigated. This prompted us to initiate the present study using global and focal models of ischaemia in albino rats. Enzymatic parameters (lipid peroxidase, reduced glutathione, catalase, glutathione reductase, glutathione-S-transferase, glutatione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) were employed to assess ischaemic brain damage and its modulation. Significant restoration of altered values to near normal levels by Ayurvedic Swarna Bhasma and Unani Kushta Tila Kalan (25 mg/kg, orally for 10 days), suggest potentials for gold preparations in cerebrovascular diseases. The preparations deserve more scientific attention for possible therapeutic exploitation.

Oxidative stress and modification of synaptic proteins in hippocampus after traumatic brain injury

“…Balancing the GSH/GSSG level requires an important cofactor, NADPH, which is produced from reactions catalyzed by G-6PD and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase. Thus, GST, GR and G-6PD are secondary antioxidant enzymes that play an important role in detoxifying ROS/RNS by maintaining a ready supply of intermediates such as GSH and NADPH [25]. Decreased activity of GR would directly affect GSH as would a reduction in the levels of GST, resulting in overall low levels of antioxidant defense, thus predicting the overpowering influences of ROS/RNS in brain injuries [7,8,24].…”

“…G-6-PD (EC 1.1.1.49) activity was assayed by the method of [25]. Briefly, the assay mixture consisted of 0.05M tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.6), 0.1 mM NADP, 0.8 mM glucose-6-phosphate, 8 mM MgCl 2 and 0.03 ml of PMS in total volume of 1.0 ml.…”

Modern Pharmacological Approaches to Therapies: Substances Tested in Animal Models of Rheumatoid Arthritis

“…RA patients are therefore exposed to oxidant stress (Harris, 2003). Consequently, a number of different activities of antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, catalase, and glutathione reductase have been reported to be effective in treating RA (Blake et al, 1981;Mazetti et al, 1996;Shah & Vohora, 2002). Some other researchers found that RA patients were more inclined to lipid peroxidation because of the reduced antioxidant defense system (Rowley et al, 1984;Gambhir et al, 1997).…”

Antioxidant Enzymes in Rheumatoid Arthritis

“…Therefore there are chances of free radical mediated damage to the body of RA patients due to their higher production or improper scavenging. Thus analysis of activities of different antioxidant enzymes like superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and glutathione reductase (GR) may have effective therapeutic potential [11,13,14]. There is more interest in roles of these in the clinical outcomes of disease like RA, therefore, we were interested in analyzing the level of MDA which is product of lipid peroxidation and level of enzymes of free radical scavenger system like superoxide dismutase (SOD), GR, catalase and levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in RA patients treated with MTX, Folic acid Vit-C and occasional corticosteroids.…”