Neurotherapeutic effects of Ginkgo biloba extract and its terpene trilactone, ginkgolide B, on sciatic crush injury model: A new evidence

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 14; no. 12; p. e0226626
• Main Authors: Al-Adwani, Dalal G, Renno, Waleed M, Orabi, Khaled Y
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 26.12.2019; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Animals; Biology and Life Sciences; Chromatography; Crush Injuries - drug therapy; Crush Injuries - pathology; Crush tests; Evaluation; Flavonoids; Fractionation; Ginkgo biloba; Ginkgolides; Ginkgolides - therapeutic use; Herbal medicine; Injuries; Lactones - therapeutic use; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Neurons; Neuroprotection; Neuroprotective Agents - therapeutic use; Peripheral Nerve Injuries - drug therapy; Peripheral Nerve Injuries - pathology; Pharmacy; Physical Sciences; Plant Extracts - therapeutic use; Rats, Wistar; Sciatic nerve; Sciatic Nerve - drug effects; Sciatic Nerve - injuries; Sciatic Nerve - pathology; Spinal cord injuries; Kuwait
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226626

Ginkgo biloba leaves extract (GBE) was subjected to neuroprotective-guided fractionation to produce eleven fractions with different polarities and constituents. The intermediate polar fraction was shown to be terpene trilactones-enriched fraction (TEGBE). Out of this fraction, pure ginkgolide B (G-B) was further purified and identified based on its spectral data. The effects of GBE and TEGBE were evaluated in comparison to that of G-B in the crush sciatic nerve injury rat model. To evaluate the neuroprotective effects, sixty Wistar male rats were randomly allocated into 6 groups: naive, sham, crush + normal saline, and three treatment groups; crush + GBE, crush + TEGBE, and crush + G-B. Treatments were given one hour following injury, and once daily for 14 days. Neurobehavioral tests, histomorphological examinations, and immunohistochemical analysis of the sciatic nerve and the spinal cord were performed at weeks 3 and 6 post-injury. GBE, TEGBE and G-B were shown to enhance the functional and sensory behavioral parameters and to protect the histological and the ultrastructural elements in the sciatic nerve. Additionally, all treatments prevented spinal cord neurons from further deterioration. It was shown that G-B has the most significant potential effects among all treatments with values that were nearly comparable to those of sham and naive groups.