Rutaecarpine, an active component of the traditional Chinese medicine Tetradium ruticarpum, has been shown to improve myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury, mainly focusing on calcitonin gene-based targets. Because both cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are forms of ischemic vascular disease, they are closely related. A recent study reported by Chunlin Yan and colleagues from Hebei North University for the first time investigated the neuroprotective effects and mechanism of action of rutaecarpine on nerve function and learning and memory following cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury.
The results from the study verify that rutaecarpine can improve neurological function following cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury, and the mechanism of this improvement may be associated with oxidative stress. These findings, published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 22, 2013), can provide the experimental basis for rutaecarpine to become an ideal drug in the prevention and treatment of cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury.
Researchers identify a ‘gene module’ involved in both depression and cardiovascular disease