title: Antioxidant properties of Taraxacum officinale fruit extract are involved in the protective effect against cellular death induced by sodium nitroprusside in brain of rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Taraxacum officinale Weber (Asteraceae), known as dandelion, is used for medicinal purposes due to its choleretic, diuretic, antitumor, antioxidant, antiinflammatory, and hepatoprotective properties.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to investigate the protective activity of T. officinale fruit extract against sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-induced decreased cellular viability and increased lipid peroxidation in the cortex, hippocampus, and striatum of rats in vitro. To explain the mechanism of the extract's antioxidant activity, its putative scavenger activities against NO, DPPH·, OH·, and H(2)O(2) were determined.
  
  
  METHODS
  Slices of cortex, hippocampus, and striatum were treated with 50 μM SNP and T. officinale fruit ethanolic extract (1-20 µg/mL) to determine cellular viability by MTT reduction assay. Lipid peroxidation was measure in cortical, hippocampal and striatal slices incubates with SNP (5 µM) and T. officinale fruit extract (1-20 µg/mL). We also determined the scavenger activities of T. officinale fruit extract against NO·, DPPH·, OH·, and H(2)O(2), as well as its iron chelating capacity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The extract (1, 5, 10, and 20 μg/mL) protected against SNP-induced decreases in cellular viability and increases in lipid peroxidation in the cortex, hippocampus, and striatum of rats. The extract had scavenger activity against DPPH· and NO· at low concentrations and was able to protect against H(2)O(2) and Fe(2+)-induced deoxyribose oxidation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  T. officinale fruit extract has antioxidant activity and protects brain slices against SNP-induced cellular death. Possible mechanisms of action include its scavenger activities against reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), which are attributed to the presence of phenolic compounds in the extract.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Centro de Ciências Naturais e Exatas, Departamento de Química, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Biológicas, Bioquímica Toxicológica, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Dirleise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Colle
authors.forename: Letícia Priscilla
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Arantes
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rauber
authors.forename: Sérgio Edgar Campos
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: de Mattos
authors.forename: João Batista Teixeira da
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.forename: Cristina Wayne
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Nogueira
authors.forename: Félix Alexandre Antunes
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Soares
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D019610:Cytoprotection / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D005638:Fruit; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009599:Nitroprusside / Q000633:toxicity*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D031205:Taraxacum
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D010936:Plant Extracts; D009599:Nitroprusside