Neferine and lianzixin extracts have protective effects on undifferentiated caffeine-damaged PC12 cells

Abstract

Background: The embryos of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn seeds, lianzixin, are used in China as food and traditional herbal medicine. Principal therapeutic indications are insomnia, anxiety and pyrexia. Caffeine is a psychostimulant and excessive use predisposes to cell damage and neurotoxicity. We aimed to investigate the potential protect effect of Neferine and lianzixin extracts on undifferentiated caffeine-damaged phaeochromocytoma cells (PC12 cells). Methods: A cell damage model based on undifferentiated PC12 was established with caffeine. Effect of Lianzixin extracts (total alkaloids, alcohol extract and water extract) and neferine on caffeine-damaged PC12 cells was evaluated. Cell viability was assessed using the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay, cellular morphology by inverted microscope, the nucleus by Hoechst 33342 staining and cleaved poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) expression by western blot analysis. Results: Lianzixin extracts (total alkaloids, alcohol extract and water extract) and neferine improved the viability of PC12 cells damaged by caffeine. The morphology of PC12 cells pretreated with neferine, or alcohol or water extract of lianzixin aggregated and attached better than caffeine-damaged cells, but cells pretreated with total alkaloids of lianzixin showed abnormal morphology. Compared with caffeine-damaged cells, cells pretreated with neferine, or alcohol or water extract of lianzixin showed a notable increase in nucleus staining and an obvious decrease in cleaved PARP expression. Conclusions: Lianzixin extracts and neferine have protective effects against caffeine-induced damage in PC12 cells, which laid a foundation for finding a new medicine value of Lianzixin.

Caffeine‐induced neurotoxicity mediated by Nrf2 pathway in PC12 cells and zebrafish larvae

“…Here, we established rat pheochromocytoma cells PC12 and zebrafish as a neurobiological model. PC12 cells can be induced to possess typical features of neuronal cells (Chen et al, 2020), and zebrafish has the advantage of being able to display high efficiency, complex behaviors, and ease of experimental manipulation (Basnet et al, 2019). It was applied to genetics research and CNS drug screening, as well as modeling complex neurological and psychiatric disorders (Fontana et al, 2018).…”

Evaluating the therapeutic role of selected active compounds in Plumula Nelumbinis on pulmonary hypertension via network pharmacology and experimental analysis

“…The separation, extraction, and identification of the total alkaloids from Plumula Nelumbinis (TAPN), neferine, liensinine, and isoliensinine were performed as described in our previous study ( Liu et al, 2009 ; Jiang et al, 2018a ; Chen et al, 2020 ). Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (C6164, Darmstadt, Germany).…”

Evaluating the Therapeutic Role of Selected Active Compounds in Plumula Nelumbinis on Pulmonary Hypertension via Network Pharmacology and Experimental Analysis

“…The separation, extraction, identi cation of neferine, liensinine, isoliensinine, and the total alkaloids from Plumula Nelumbinis (TAPN) were performed as described in our previous study [48][49][50] . Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (C6164, Darmstadt, Germany).…”