Abstract
Amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ) is implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), a neurodegenerative disorder. This study was designed to determine the effect of four medicinal plants used to treat neurodegenerative diseases on Aβ-induced cell death. Cytotoxicity of the ethanol extracts of the plants was determined against SH-SY5Y (human neuroblastoma) cells which were untreated, as well as toxically induced with Aβ, using the MTT and neutral red uptake assays. Cell viability was reduced to 16% when exposed to 20 µM Aβ25-35 for 72 h. The methanol extract of the roots of Ziziphus mucronata Willd., Lannea schweinfurthii (Engl.) Engl. and Terminalia sericea Burch. ex DC., were the least toxic to the SH-SY5Ycells at the highest concentration tested (100 µg/ml). All four plants tested were observed to reduce the effects of Aβ-induced neuronal cell death, indicating that they may contain compounds which may be relevant in the prevention of AD progression.
Highlights
Neurodegenerative disease is a term applied to a variety of conditions which result from a chronic breakdown and deterioration of neurons, those of the central nervous system (CNS)
Cell viability was reduced by 84% (Figure 1) when exposed to 20 μM, and this concentration was used for the determination of amyloid-β proteins (Aβ) induced neuronal cell damage in the present experiment
All four tested plants were observed to reduce the effects of Aβ induced neuronal cell death, indicating that they may contain compounds which may be relevant in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression
Summary
Neurodegenerative disease is a term applied to a variety of conditions which result from a chronic breakdown and deterioration of neurons, those of the central nervous system (CNS). These neurons may accumulate aggregated proteins which cause dysfunction (Houghton and Howes, 2005). One of the major pathological features of AD is the abundant presence of amyloid plaques in the brain tissues of affected individuals (Pereira et al, 2005) These plaques are made up of amyloid-β proteins (Aβ), which are neurotoxic and are actively involved in the neuronal degeneration that occurs in AD (Ji et al, 2006). In the in vitro model of AD, Aβ has been used to initiate neurotoxicity in various types of cultured cells (Puttfarcken et al, 1996; Boyd-Kimball et al, 2004; Martin et al, 2004; Limpeanchob et al, 2008)
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