Figure 4

Effects of puerarin on the expressions of (A) active caspase-3 protein and (B) tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α mRNA in cerebral homogenates 24 h after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO)-reperfusion injury in rats. (A) Fresh brains from sham-operated, solvent-treated, and puerarin (50 mg/kg)-treated rats were removed, and sectioned coronally into four sequential parts from the frontal lobe to the occipital lobe. The third part of the four sequential parts of the ischemic-injured hemisphere was separately collected, homogenized, and centrifuged. The supernatant (50 μg protein) was then subjected to SDS-PAGE, and transferred onto membranes for analysis of active caspase-3 expression. The results are representative examples of three similar experiments. Data are presented as the means ± S.E.M. *P < 0.05 compared to the sham-operated group (lane 1); ^#P < 0.05 compared to the solvent-treated groups (lane 2). Equal loading in each lane is demonstrated by similar intensities of α-tubulin. (B) Fresh brains from sham-operated, solvent-treated, and puerarin (50 mg/kg)-treated rats were removed, homogenized, and centrifuged from the ipsilateral cortex, followed by analysis of TNF-α mRNA expression by RT-PCR as described in "Methods". The GAPDH level was used to normalize the amount of the cDNA template used in each PCR reaction. The results are representative examples of three similar experiments.