Abstract: bjective To investigate the effect of Steroidal Saponin TSA on the recovery of sensorimotor function after cerebral ischemia in rats. Methods Cerebral ischemia was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats which were divided into 6 groups: vehicle, TSA 15 mg/kg, 30 mg/kg, 60 mg/kg，Angong Niuhuang (ANGH) 400 mg/kg and sham. Animals received drug administration 3～14 d after ischemia. Sensorimotor function was evaluated with beam-walking and adhesivetape-exposing performance 3 d, 7 d, 10 d, and 14 d after ischemia. Neural cell injury in the sensorimotor cortex ipsilateral to ischemia was studied with hematoxylin-eosin stain. Immunohistochemistry Methods were used to measure the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein and the angiogenesis of the area around infarction tissue. Results Animals receiving TSA at a dosage of 30 mg/kg and 60 mg/kg recovered better in beam-walking and adhesivetape-exposing performance than vehicles, and the improvement became significant 14 d after ischemia. Treatment with TSA 30 mg/kg、60 mg/kg also significantly reduced the neural cell loss in sensorimotor cortex and increased the expression of VEGF protein and the microvascular density. Conclusion TSA can improve the recovery of sensorimotor function follwing focal cerebral ischemia in rats, which may involve the neural cells protection, promoting the expression of VEGF and angiogenesis after ischemia.

Key words: cerebral ischemia, steroidal saponin, sensorimotor function, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), angiogenesis, rats