title: Protective effects of sanjoinine A against N-methyl-D-aspartate-induced seizure.
abstract: Sanjoinine A is a component of the alkaloid fraction of Zizyphi Spinosi Semen. This experiment was performed to investigate whether sanjoinine A acts as an anticonvulsive in the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-induced experimental seizure model. We also examined whether it protects against seizure-form electroencephalogram (EEG) alterations induced by NMDA in vivo and/or cell killing due to NMDA in cultured cerebellar granule cells. Administration of sanjoinine A increased the survival rate and the latency of seizure onset, and decreased the seizure scores and the weight-loss induced by NMDA in mice, in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, sanjoinine A blocked seizure-form EEG alterations induced by NMDA and inhibited NMDA-induced cell killing in cultured rat cerebellar granule cells, measured by both the trypan blue exclusion test and the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Moreover, sanjoinine A inhibited the elevation of intracellular calcium influx induced by NMDA, which was measured using a fluorescent dye, Furo 3-AM. It is suggested that sanjoinine A protects against NMDA-induced seizures by inhibiting intracellular calcium influx.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Sung-Ryul
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: Sang-Yoon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Yun-Bae
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jin-Tae
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Younghoon
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Heesuk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Kinam
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ki-Wan
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Oh