中药治疗癫痫作用机制研究概述

Research progress on regulation effect of traditional Chinese medicine on epilepsy

癫痫发作可能与活性氧自由基增加、离子通道失衡以及炎性因子过度释放有关。近期研究发现,番红花素、姜黄素、甘草甜素、天麻素、人参皂苷、厚朴酚以及羟基积雪草苷等中药及其单体通过减轻机体氧化应激反应、抑制机体炎症反应以及减少神经元异常放电,可以起到提高机体癫痫发作时的阈值、减轻癫痫发作强度甚至起到治疗癫痫的作用。值得注意的是,中药调控癫痫的机制是相互联系、相互影响的。癫痫发作时,机体所释放的炎性因子可加重机体的氧化应激反应从而引起胶质细胞以及神经元的凋亡。而中药及其单体可以通过负向调控核因子κB、丝裂原活化蛋白激酶、磷脂酰肌醇-3-激酶/蛋白激酶B以及蛋白激酶B/糖原合成酶激酶-3β等炎性信号通路、促炎因子如白细胞介素1β、肿瘤坏死因子-α以及一氧化氮、活性氧的生成,正向调控核因子E2相关因子2/血红加氧酶-1等抗炎抗氧化信号通路、过氧化物酶的活性以及抑炎因子白细胞介素6等的表达,抑制突触异常传递以及维持Ca 2+离子通道的平衡等机制发挥其抗炎抗氧化和神经保护作用,进而改善认知功能,起到防治癫痫的作用。此外,中药及其单体与常规抗癫痫药物联合应用还有减毒增效的作用。

Epilepsy is a chronic nervous system disease caused by recurrent and transient central nervous system dysfunction caused by abnormal discharge of neurons in the brain.About 65 million people worldwide suffer from epilepsy.Seizures may be associated with increased reactive oxygen species,ion channel imbalance and excessive release of inflammatory factors.This may be due to the abnormal increase in cerebral blood flow during epileptic seizures,resulting in excessive glucose metabolism,excess production of lactic acid,mitochondrial superoxide and hydroxyl radicals,changes in protein function,and ultimately increased production of reactive oxygen radicals.In fact,recent studies have found that crocin,curcumin,glycyrrhizic acid,gastrodia elata,ginseng saponin,honokiol and hydroxy centella asiatica glycosides and other traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)and its monomer,can reduce oxidative stress,inhibit the body's inflammatory response and reduce the abnormal discharge of neurons and reduce gamma-aminobutyric acid(GABA)degradation,inhibit the release of glutamate,Bcl-2 and other anti-apoptotic proteins can be activated to reduce neuronal apoptosis and play a neuroprotective role.The mechanism of TCM and its monomer treating epilepsy can improve the threshold of epileptic seizure,reduce the number of epileptic seizure,reduce the intensity of epileptic seizure,and even have the effect of treating epilepsy.It is worth noting that the regulation mechanism of TCM on epilepsy is interrelated and affects each other.In the process of epileptic seizure,interleukin-1β,interleukin-6 and other inflammatory factors will be released by the body,which can aggravate the oxidative stress response,resulting in the apoptosis of neurons and glial cells,such as astrocytes and microglia in the brain.Therefore,the study of traditional Chinese medicine treatment of epilepsy and the extraction of monomer is the focus of researchers.