Neuroprotective Effects of Formononetin Against NMDA‐Induced Apoptosis in Cortical Neurons

Abstract

Formononetin (FMNT) is an isoflavone found in many herbs including Trifolium pratense L., Spatholobus suberectus Dunn., and Astragalus mongholicus Bunge. The purpose of this study is to investigate pharmacological properties of FMNT on neurotoxicity induced by N-methyl-D-asparate (NMDA) in primary-cultured cortical neurons. The cell viability was significantly decreased after exposure to NMDA (200 μM) for 40 min. Pretreatment of FMNT (10 μM) for 12 h significantly attenuated the cell loss induced by NMDA exposure. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that treatment of FMNT attenuated the number of apoptotic cells, especially the early phase apoptotic cells, induced by NMDA exposure. Western blot analysis showed that FMNT regulated the expression of apoptosis-related proteins by increasing the levels of Bcl-2 and pro-caspase-3 and decreasing the levels of Bax and caspase-3. These findings demonstrate that FMNT is capable of protecting neurons from NMDA-evoked excitotoxic injury and has a potential perspective to the clinical treatment for neurodegenerative disorders in central nervous system.

Neuroprotection of Sesamin against Cerebral Ischemia In-Vivo and N-Methyl-D-Aspartate-Induced Apoptosis In-Vitro

“…Many studies have shown that Ca 2+ overload triggers several downstream lethal reactions, including cGMP elevation, NOS activation, and glutamate release [37,38]. In this study, the results of the MTT assay, LDH assay, Hoechst 33258 and PI double staining, and Fluo-3/AM fluorescent intensity test show that NMDA induces neuronal injury, which is consistent with previous reports [9,22]. Sesamin reduces neuronal apoptosis and inhibits the elevation of intracellular Ca2+ triggered by NMDA.…”

“…Caspase-3, a member of the caspase family, determines the incidence of apoptosis. The members of the Bcl-2 family such as Bcl-2 and Bax proteins are the most prominent factors in the mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathway [3,9]. Studies have shown the powerful properties of various natural polyphenols against neuronal exitotoxicity induced by NMDA [10,11].…”

Trifolium pratense

“…These results indicated that biochanin A may be able to exert neuroprotective effects against L-glutamateinduced cytotoxicity. Pretreatment of primarycultured cortical neurons with formononetin (10 μM) for 12 hours signifi cantly attenuated the cell loss induced by N-methyl-D -asparate (NMDA) exposure (Tian et al 2013 ). It was found that treatment of formononetin attenuated the number of apoptotic cells, especially the early phase apoptotic cells, induced by NMDA exposure.…”

Anti-Aging and Enhanced Physique Activities Research of Astragalus Mongolicus Water Extract in Mice

“…Hsiao. Some reports exhibited that AM could protect animals from kinds of injury of brain [7][8][9][10]. So in this work, we investigated the protective effects of AM on D-gal induced memory impairment in vivo and physique activities of AM using three mice models (water maze test, swim test and beheaded breathing test).…”