Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of morroniside on glutathione (GSH) and Caspase-3 in rats with focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion. Methods The animal model was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion with suture embolus with 30 min for cerebral ischemia and 7 d for reperfusion. The content of GSH was detected with spectrophotometry and Caspase-3 expression was observed by Western blot.Results Compared with model group, the GSH increased and Caspase-3 expression reduced significantly at 270 mg/kg of morroniside.Conclusion Morroniside may have neuroprotective effect by increasing GSH in rats cortex and reduce the apoptosis in focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Key words: morroniside, cerebral ischemia/reperfusion, glutathione, apoptosis, neuroprotective