title: Beneficial effect of antioxidants in purified neurons derived from rat cortical culture.
abstract: Brain cell suspensions obtained from cerebrum of fetal rats were cultured and after 5 days neurons were separated from the residual cells. These purified neurons, which were replated on the dish, started to die within 24 h in culture. Glutathione content of these neurons decreased rapidly to less than one-tenth of the initial level after 24 h. In the presence of alpha-tocopherol, a well-known antioxidant, the neurons survived for at least 3 days, though glutathione content remained very low. Butylated hydroxyanisol had similar effect, but ascorbic acid and uric acid had no or very little effect. Serotonin, which is assumed to have an antioxidant activity, kept the neurons alive for 3 days. These results suggest that neurons separated from the other types of cells cannot survive due to the oxidative stress, which may otherwise be neutralized by a mechanism involving glutathione, and that antioxidants including serotonin has a beneficial effect on these purified neurons.
authors.affiliation: Center for Medical Sciences, Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Sciences, Ami, Ibaraki 300-0394, Japan. sagara@ipu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Jun-Ichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sagara
authors.forename: Kyoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakakura
authors.forename: Hideyo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bannai
authors.forename: Nobuo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Makino
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002083:Butylated Hydroxyanisole / Q000494:pharmacology; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism*; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D012701:Serotonin / Q000494:pharmacology; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D002083:Butylated Hydroxyanisole; D012701:Serotonin; D005978:Glutathione; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol