title: HESA-A Exerts Its Cytoprotective Effects through Scavenging of Free Radicals: An in Vitro Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Natural medicines have been recently considered more reasonable for human use most notably due to their safety and tolerance. HESA-A is a marine-originated herbal medicine with a variety of healing effects. However, its exact biological mechanism is not clear. The present study aimed at the evaluation of the HESA-A antioxidant effect.
  
  
  METHODS
  Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) and human embryonic kidney (HEK293T) cells were treated with different concentrations of HESA-A and H(2)O(2) followed by cell proliferation assays. The antioxidant effect of the HESA-A preparations was evaluated by an antioxidant assay kit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The viability of CHO and HEK293T cells were about 89% following their incubation with 100 and 200 ng/ml HESA-A, respectively for 1.5 hrs. However, when the cells were incubated with concentrations of 300 ng/ml or more, the cell viability significantly decreased to 48% compare to the control cells. The cytotoxic effects of H(2)O(2) were observed after 2 hrs of incubation of the HEK293T or CHO cells with 10 mM or 16 mM H(2)O(2), respectively, while in the presence of HESA-A the cytotoxicity was significantly decreased. Antioxidant assay revealed that HESA-A scavenges free radicals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings indicate that HESA-A had cytoprotective effects in vitro, and that such an effect might be due to antioxidant properties.
authors.affiliation: Blood Transfusion Research Center, High Institute for Research and Education in Transfusion Medicine, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehryar Habibi
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Roudkenar
authors.forename: Parisa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bahmani
authors.forename: Raheleh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Halabian
authors.forename: Amaneh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mohammadi Oushandeh
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jahanian Najafabadi
authors.forename: Mohammad Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Shokrgozar
keywords: HESA-A; hydrogen peroxide; reactive oxygen species