Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of Tongxinluo,a Chinese medicine,on neurological deficits,neuron apoptosis and the expression of nerve growth factor(NGF) and brain derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF) after cerebral ischemia in diabetic rats.Methods Wistar diabetic rats(n=36) were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion and randomly divided into 2 groups:control group(n=18) and Tongxinluo group(n=18).Tongxinluo group received Tongxinluo 1.0 g/kg·d after cerebral ischemia.Neurological severity scores,TUNEL staining and immunohistological assessments were performed to evaluate the effects.Results Compared with the control,the neurological score significantly improved(P<0.05),the expression of NGF and BDNF increased(P<0.05),and cell apoptosis decreased(P<0.05) in the tongxinluo group.Conclusion Tongxinluo can improve the neurological function through inhibition of neuron apoptosis and increasing the expression of NGF and BDNF after cerebral ischemia in diabetic rats.

Key words: diabetes, cerebral ischemia, Tongxinluo, apoptosis, nerve growth factor(NGF), brain derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF), rats