title: Bioactivity-guided fractionation identifies amygdalin as a potent neurotrophic agent from herbal medicine Semen Persicae extract.
abstract: Herbal medicine Semen Persicae is widely used to treat blood stasis in Chinese medicine and other oriental folk medicines. Although little is known about the effects of Semen Persicae and its active compounds on neuron differentiation, our pilot study showed that Semen Persicae extract promoted neurite outgrowth in rat dopaminergic PC12 cells. In the present study, we developed a bioactivity-guided fractionation procedure for the characterization of the neurotrophic activity of Semen Persicae extract. The resultant fractions were assayed for neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells based on microscopic assessment. Through liquid-liquid extraction and reverse phase HPLC separation, a botanical glycoside amygdalin was isolated as the active compound responsible for the neurotrophic activity of Semen Persicae extract. Moreover, we found that amygdalin rapidly induced the activation of extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2). A specific ERK1/2 inhibitor PD98059 attenuated the stimulatory effect of amygdalin on neurite outgrowth. Taken together, amygdalin was identified as a potent neurotrophic agent from Semen Persicae extract through a bioactivity-guided fractional procedure. The neurotrophic activity of amygdalin may be mediated by the activation of ERK1/2 pathway.
authors: School of Chinese Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 10 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
authors: Chuanbin
authors: C
authors: Yang
authors: School of Chinese Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 10 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
authors: Jia
authors: J
authors: Zhao
authors: School of Chinese Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 10 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
authors: Yuanyuan
authors: Y
authors: Cheng
authors: Department of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
authors: Xuechen
authors: X
authors: Li
authors: School of Chinese Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 10 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
authors: Jianhui
authors: J
authors: Rong
mesh_terms: D000678:Amygdalin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D005591:Chemical Fractionation; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000494:pharmacology; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016501:Neurites / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D016716:PC12 Cells; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D005419:Flavonoids; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; C587029:bu-yang-huan-wu-tang; D000678:Amygdalin; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases; C093973:2-(2-amino-3-methoxyphenyl)-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one