Farah Amna Othman¹, Asmaa’ Mohd Satar¹, Mohd Zulkifli Mustafa², Suat Cheng Tan¹

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the therapeutic potential of baicalein-enriched fraction (BEF) extracted from Oroxylum indicum leaves on ischemic stroke in rat models induced with endothelin-1 (ET-1). Methods: A total of 10 male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned to the study (n = 5) and control (n = 5) groups. Study group received 50 mg/kg BEF treatment via oral gavage administration for 4 days prior to the induction of ischemic stroke using ET-1, while control group (n = 5) received normal saline. Neurological deficits, total infarct volume, histological scoring and expression of targeted genes were evaluated. Results: The study group exhibited significantly improved motor function test, motor coordination and balance test, motor asymmetry test, and contralateral sensory test (p < 0.05) compared to control group. However, the reflex test was not significantly different between the study and control groups (p > 0.05). Furthermore, infarct volume, infarction area, and relative mRNA GABRA 6 expression were significantly lower in study group compared to control group while the relative mRNA expression of JAKMIP 1 was significantly higher (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Baicalein-enriched fraction (BEF) extracted from O. indicum leaves improves motor coordination, lowers infarction parameters and therefore, may be a potential therapeutic agent for future clinical approaches to treat ischemic stroke disease.