Research Article Active Compounds of Rhubarb Root and Rhizome in Animal Model Experiments of Focal Cerebral Ischemia

Copyright © 2015 Ai-ju Liu et al.This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Rhubarb root and rhizome (RRR) has been clinically used for stroke at least 2000 years and is still used in modern times in both China and elsewhere worldwide. The objective of present study was to evaluate the efficacy of active compounds of RRR (ACRRR) for experimental ischemic stroke. Studies ofACRRR in animalmodels of ischemic strokewere identified from5databases until April 2014. Study quality for each included article was evaluated according to the CAMARADES 10-item checklist. Outcome measures were neurological deficit score and infarct size. All the data were analyzed using RevMan 5.1 software. As a result, 20 studies were identified describing procedures involving 577 animals. The quality score of studies ranges from 2 to 6, and the median was 3.4. Six studies showed significant effects of ACRRR for improving infarct size compared with model group