Ginsenosides protect striatal neurons in a cellular model of Huntington's disease.
Ginseng, the root of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer (Araliaceae), is a widely used herbal medicine. Ginsenosides, the active ingredients of ginseng, are the main components responsible for many beneficial actions of ginseng. In the present study, we tested 10 different ginsenosides in the previously developed in vitro Huntington's disease (HD) assay with primary medium spiny striatal neuronal cultures (MSN) from the YAC128 HD mouse model. We found that nanomolar concentrations of ginsenoside Rb1 and Rc effectively protected YAC128 medium spiny neurons from glutamate-induced apoptosis and that Rg5 was protective at micromolar concentration. The other seven ginsenosides tested were not effective or exerted toxic effects in MSN cultures. From further experiments, we suggested that neuroprotective effects of ginsenosides Rb1, Rc, and Rg5 could correlate with their ability to inhibit glutamate-induced Ca(2+) responses in cultured MSN. From these results we concluded that ginsenosides Rb1, Rc, and Rg5 offer a potential therapeutic choice for the treatment of HD and possibly other neurodegenerative disorders.
Wu
Jun
J
Department of Physiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA.
Jeong
Hye Kyoung
HK
Bulin
Sarah Elizabeth
SE
Kwon
Sung Won
SW
Park
Jeong Hill
JH
Bezprozvanny
Ilya
I
D000818:Animals; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D019610:Cytoprotection / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D036145:Ginsenosides / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008818:Mice, Neurologic Mutants; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009498:Neurotoxins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D036145:Ginsenosides; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D009498:Neurotoxins; D018698:Glutamic Acid