Effect of pretreatment with Devil's Claw on locomotor activity, infarct volume, and neuronal density in focal cerebral ischemia in rats

Stroke is a highly prevalent and devastating conditionaffecting millions worldwide. The Devil's Claw (DCW) plant is anative African plant whose anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, andneuroprotective properties have been investigated. We postulatedthat DCW could protect the brain injury caused by cerebralischemia. The rats were randomly divided into fourgroups. The sham and control (Ctrl) groups received pretreatmentwith a distilled water vehicle. Doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg wereselected for pretreatment with DCW. The filament or intravascularocclusion method was used for middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO). The Triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) stainingmethod was used to investigate the infarct zone and penumbravolume. The neuroprotective effect of DCW was measured byhematoxylin staining. Movement performance was evaluated fromneurological deficit score, rotarod performance, and open field tests. TTC staining showed that the DCW/400 group couldmaintain the penumbra's structure and reduce the infarct volumecompared to the Ctrl group (p<0.001). Histological studiesconfirmed the neuroprotective properties of DCW at doses of 200and 400 mg/kg compared to the Ctrl group (p<0.01 and p<0.0001,respectively). The results of behavioral tests showed animprovement in behavioral performance in pretreatment 400 mg/kgdoses compare to Ctrl group (p<0.0001). The study showed that pretreatment with DCW withits neuron protection potential reduces the infarct area and restoresmotor function after MCAO.