Protective role of homoeopathic medicines on cerebral ischaemia in animals

Objective: Cerebral ischaemia is the third leading cause of death after cancer and myocardial infarction. The protective effect of some homoeopathic drugs has been studied in the Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion (MCAO) model of rat. Materials and Methods: The rats were pretreated with 200C potency once daily for 5 days orally (1 drop or 21 μl) and post treated after 24 hr of MCAO with 30C potency three times a day for 5 days orally (1 drop or 21 μl) with homoeopathic medicines Crotalus, Phosphorus, Arnica and Crocus. Results: The content of antioxidants, Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS) was elevated significantly whereas the level of Glutathione (GSH) was depleted significantly in the MCAO of rats as compared to the sham group. The activities of antioxidant enzymes, Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx), Glutathione Reductase (GR) and Glutathione-S-Transferase were decreased significantly in MCAO group as compared to sham group. The medicines used on rats (pre and post treated in potencies of 200C and 30C respectively) have protected the activities of these enzymes significantly when compared with the animals of MCAO group. Conclusion: The study has shown that the homoeopathic drugs have protected most of the studied parameters significantly but further studies are required to comment on the mechanism and reproducibility of homoeopathic drugs