Gastrodia elata Bl. has a long edible history and is considered an important functional food raw material. Gastrodin (GAS) is one of the main functional substances in G. elata BI. and can be used as a health care product for the elderly to enhance resistance and delay aging. This study investigated the ameliorative effect and mechanism of GAS on cognitive dysfunction in vascular dementia (VaD) rats, which provides a theoretical basis for development and utilization of functional food. The water maze test shows that GAS improves learning and memory impairment in VaD rats. Meanwhile; GAS significantly decreased the levels of Fe²⁺ and malondialdehyde (MDA); increased the content of glutathione (GSH); and significantly up-regulated the expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPx4), the key regulatory factors of ferroptosis; while it down-regulated the expression of kelch-like ECH-associated protein (Keap1) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2). However, GAS does not directly regulate GPx4 and COX2 to inhibit ferroptosis. Furthermore, compared with GAS alone, GAS combined with Bardoxolone (an agonist of Nrf2) did not further affect the increase in GPx4 levels and decrease in COX2 levels, nor did it further affect the regulation of GAS on the biochemical parameters of ferroptosis in HT22 hypoxia injury. These findings revealed that GAS inhibited ferroptosis in hippocampal neurons by activating the Nrf2/Keap1-GPx4 signaling pathway, suggesting its possible application as a functional food for improving vascular dementia by inhibiting ferroptosis.

To investigate the ameliorated effects of an extract of Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) on experimental cardiac remodeling in rats induced by acute cardiac infarction, and further explore the mechanism concentrated on myocardial type I collagen, transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1), matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), and provide the experimentaldata for clinical application of GBE. Rats were divided into five groups (n = 20) as following: sham operation group (group A), acute myocardial infarction model group (group B), acute myocardial infarction model + aspirin (10 mg/kg) treatment group (group C), acute myocardial infarction model + captopril (20 mg/kg) treatment group (group D) and acute myocardial infarction model + Ginkgo biloba extract (100 mg/kg) treatment group (group E). The rat acute myocardial infarction model was reproduced by ligaturing the left anterior descending artery excluding the sham operation group which did not ligation only completed the operational process. Each group was further subdivided into treatment regimens lasting 4 weeks and 8 weeks. Immunohistochemistry and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods were used to detect the protein expression and mRNA transcriptional levels of rat myocardial TGF-β1, type I collagen, MMP-2 and MMP-9. Compared with group B, regardless of the length of treatment (4 or 8 weeks), the TGF-β1, MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA transcriptional levels, and the protein expression levels of type I collagen, MMP-2 and MMP-9 in groups D, C and E were significantly decreased (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the mRNA expression levels of TGF-β1 in groups D, C and E were significantly lower after 8 weeks compared to after 4 weeks (P < 0.01), as were the expression levels of type I collagen in groups D, C and E (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the protein expression levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 between groups E and C. GBE could inhibit experimental rat myocardial remodeling after acute myocardial infarction via reduced transcription of TGF-β1, MMP-2 and MMP-9 genes and by the decreased expression of type I collagen, MMP-2 and MMP-9 proteins in myocardial cells.