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Science Forum Index » Life Extension Forum » Silymarin is neuroprotective
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| kofi |
 Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2003 10:37 pm |
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Eur J Neurosci. 2002 Dec;16(11):2103-12. Related Articles, Links
Click here to read
Silymarin protects dopaminergic neurons against
lipopolysaccharide-induced neurotoxicity by inhibiting microglia
activation.
Wang MJ, Lin WW, Chen HL, Chang YH, Ou HC, Kuo JS, Hong JS, Jeng KC.
Department of Education and Research, Taichung Veterans General
Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan.
An inflammatory response in the central nervous system mediated by
activation of microglia is a key event in the early stages of the
development of neurodegenerative diseases. Silymarin is a polyphenolic
flavanoid derived from milk thistle that has anti-inflammatory,
cytoprotective and anticarcinogenic effects. In this study, we first
investigated the neuroprotective effect of silymarin against
lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced neurotoxicity in mesencephalic mixed
neuron-glia cultures. The results showed that silymarin significantly
inhibited the LPS-induced activation of microglia and the production of
inflammatory mediators, such as tumour necrosis factor-alpha and nitric
oxide (NO), and reduced the damage to dopaminergic neurons. Therefore,
the inhibitory mechanisms of silymarin on microglia activation were
studied further. The production of inducible nitric oxide synthase
(iNOS) was studied in LPS-stimulated BV-2 cells as a model of microglia
activation. Silymarin significantly reduced the LPS-induced nitrite,
iNOS mRNA and protein levels in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, LPS
could induce the activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase
(MAPK) and c-jun N-terminal kinase but not extracellular
signal-regulated kinase. The LPS-induced production of NO was inhibited
by the selective p38 MAPK inhibitor SB203580. These results indicated
that the p38 MAPK signalling pathway was involved in the LPS-induced NO
production. However, the activation of p38 MAPK was not inhibited by
silymarin. Nevertheless, silymarin could effectively reduce LPS-induced
superoxide generation and nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation.
It suggests that the inhibitory effect of silymarin on microglia
activation is mediated through the inhibition of NF-kappaB activation.
PMID: 12473078 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] |
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