title: Puerarin exhibits greater distribution and longer retention time in neurons than astrocytes in a co-cultured system.
abstract: The phytoestrogen puerarin has been shown to protect neurons and astrocytes in the brain, and is therefore an attractive drug in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and cerebral ischemia. Whether puerarin exhibits the same biological processes in neurons and astrocytes in vitro has rarely been reported. In this study, cortical neurons and astrocytes of newborn Sprague-Dawley rats were separated, identified and co-cultured in a system based on Transwell membranes. The retention time and distribution of puerarin in each cell type was detected by fluorescence spectrophotometry and fluorescence microscope. The concentration of puerarin in both co-cultured and separately cultured neurons was greater than that of astrocytes. Puerarin concentration reached a maximum 20 minutes after it was added. At 60 minutes after its addition, a scant amount of drug was detected in astrocytes; however in both separately cultured and co-cultured neurons, the concentration of puerarin achieved a stable level of about 12.8 ng/mL. The results indicate that puerarin had a higher concentration and longer retention time in neurons than that observed in astrocytes.
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Sciences College & Chinese Medicine College of Southwest University; Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Pharmacodynamics Evaluation, Chongqing, China ; Rongchang Campus of Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Shu-Yong
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Sciences College & Chinese Medicine College of Southwest University; Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Pharmacodynamics Evaluation, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Sciences College & Chinese Medicine College of Southwest University; Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Pharmacodynamics Evaluation, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Sciences College & Chinese Medicine College of Southwest University; Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Pharmacodynamics Evaluation, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Fang-Hong
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Sciences College & Chinese Medicine College of Southwest University; Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Pharmacodynamics Evaluation, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Yan-Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Sciences College & Chinese Medicine College of Southwest University; Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Pharmacodynamics Evaluation, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Three Gorges Medical College, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Bin-Bin
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Sciences College & Chinese Medicine College of Southwest University; Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Pharmacodynamics Evaluation, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Yu
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Xu
keywords: Transwell; astrocytes; co-culture; in vitro experiments; neonatal rats; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; neurons; puerarin