Nanodelivery of Chinese traditional medicine extract of Ginkgo biloba (EGb-761) induces superior neuroprotection in heat stroke

Abstract

M personnel are often exposed to high summer heat resulting in heat stroke (HS) resulting in serious mental and physical consequences due to blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown, edema formation and brain pathologies. In this innovation, we used TiO2 nanowired EGb-761 and BN-52021 to treat HS induced brain pathologies in model experiments. Rats were exposed to two hour HS daily for eight days in a biological oxygen demand (BOD) incubator that does not induce brain pathology. On the eighth day, the animals were subjected to a four hour additional HS, and brain pathology was examined. These animals exhibited profound BBB leakage to Evans blue and [131]-Iodine, brain edema 2–4-fold higher neuronal damages as compared sham treated naïve rats. Treatment with EGb-761 (50 mg/kg, p.o.) with BN-52021 (2 mg/kg, p.o.) daily, for five days reduced brain damage by 20 to 30% in HS. However, when TiO2 nanowired EGb-761 or TiO2 BN-52021 were administered in identical doses, more than 80% reduction in brain pathology was observed in HS. The functional outcome e.g., walking on a tilted mesh grid (45°C), staying on a Rota-Rod treadmill (16 r.p.m.) and finding placing of forepaw on a wire mesh were significantly improved by nanodelivery of EGb-761 and BN-52021. These observations suggest that nanodelivery of EGb-761 and BN-52021 in HS has a potential therapeutic value that requires further investigation. Biography