Neuroprotective Effects of Geranium Robertianum L. Aqueous Extract on the Cellular Parkinson's Disease Model

Abstract

- OBJECTIVE: In recent years, bo-tanical medicines alone or in conjunction with ex-isting therapies have attracted considerable pop-ularity as an alternative treatment for Parkinson's Disease (PD). For instance, Geranium robertia-num L. (Geraniaceae family) has been used in folk medicine for its antioxidant and anti-inflammato-ry properties. However, its neuroprotective po-tential has not been well demonstrated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Herein and for the first time, we have investigated the in vitro neu-roprotective effects of leaf extract of G. Robertia-num over a wide dose range (0-200 mu g/mL) on the PD model using retinoic acid (RA)-differentiated SHSY-5Y cells and 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+)-induced neurotoxicity. The neuroprotec-tive effects were determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylth-iazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assays. The antioxidant activity of the extract was mea-sured by total antioxidant status (TAS) and total oxidant status (TOS). The effect of leaf aqueous extracts on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activi-ty was also determined. Finally, cell death mecha-nisms were analyzed by flow cytometry. RESULTS: Our results showed that G. Rober-tianum leaf extract ameliorated cytotoxicity and oxidative damage by MPP+. Moreover, G. Rober-tianum extract exhibited a protective activity against MPP+ induced apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings could lead to a promising new candidate for a possi-ble cure of Parkinson's disease through neuro-protective mechanisms with respect to antiox-idant and apoptosis inhibitory properties of G. Robertianum water extracts.