Effective compounds group of Mongolian prescriptions BAIMAI-SAN protect against peripheral neuropathy in lower limbs of rats through neuro protective effect

Ethnopharmacological relevance: BAIMAI-SAN prescription is a famous Chinese minority complex prescription used for curing neuropathy. Materials and methods: The Effective Compounds Groups of BAIMAI-SAN (ECGBM) is determined by high through-put screening, and it includes picroside II, verbascose, taurine and ellagic acid and borneol. To research the potential protective effect of ECGBM on the function of peripheral neuropathy, diabetic rats with peripheral neuropathy were induced by streptozotocin and treated with ECGBM (0.1, 0.3, 0.9 mg/kg/day i.g.) for 75 days. Primary cortical neuronal cultures were subjected to high d-glucitol, and treated with ECGBM prophylactically. Results: The administration resulted in reductions in speed of sciatic motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV), sensory nerve conduction velocity (SNCV) and response speed to pain in the sciatic nerve fiber. Data from primary cortical neuronal cultures experiments indicated that neuronal survival rates were increased, and LDH release was decreased and the loss of neurite length was alleviated in ECGBM group. Conclusions: It is first report that ECGBM could protect the peripheral neuron in diabetic rat in vivo and in vitro. This activity may be associated with the neuron protective effect. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.