Protective Effects of Gastrodin Against Autophagy‐Mediated Astrocyte Death

Abstract

Gastrodin is an active ingredient derived from the rhizome of Gastrodia elata. This compound is usually used to treat convulsive illness, dizziness, vertigo, and headache. This study aimed to investigate the effect of gastrodin on the autophagy of glial cells exposed to lipopolysaccharides (LPS, 1 µg/mL). Autophagy is a form of programmed cell death, although it also promotes cell survival. In cultured astrocytes, LPS exposure induced excessive autophagy and apoptosis, which were significantly prevented by the pretreatment cells with gastrodin (10 μM). The protective effects of gastrodin via autophagy inhibition were verified by the decreased levels of LC3-II, P62, and Beclin-1, which are classical markers for autophagy. Furthermore, gastrodin protected astrocytes from apoptosis through Bcl-2 and Bax signaling pathway. The treatment of astrocytes with rapamycin (500 nM), wortmannin (100 nM), and LY294002 (10 μM), which are inhibitors of mTOR and PI3K, respectively, eliminated the known effects of gastrodin on the inhibited Beclin-1 expression. Furthermore, gastrodin blocked the down-regulation of glutamine synthetase induced by LPS exposure in astrocytes. Our results suggest that gastrodin can be used as a preventive agent for the excessive autophagy induced by LPS.

Gastrodin protects myocardial cells against hypoxia/reoxygenation injury in neonatal rats by inhibiting cell autophagy through the activation of mTOR signals in PI3K-Akt pathway

“…It was proved that PI3K‐AKT signalling pathway was involved in regulating autophagy of GAS. In fact, previous studies have shown that GAS could inhibit cell autophagy through PI3K‐Akt‐mTOR pathway, thus exerting the protective effect on astrocytes induced by lipopolysaccharide . However, there are no related studies on the effect of GAS on myocardial cells with H/R injury.…”

“…Besides, PI3K‐AKT was a key link in the process of cell autophagy. After addition of PI3K and mTOR inhibitors, the effect of GAS on cell autophagy was significantly eliminated . These results suggested that GAS could regulate cell autophagy, which might be achieved by inhibiting p38 expression, thereby affecting PI3K and mTOR.…”

“…As the main ingredient of Gastrodia elata, gastrodin (GAS) presents extensive pharmacological activity in central nervous system, cardiovascular system and immune system, including sedation, pain relief, cardiovascular function improvement, anti‐inflammation and other pharmacological effects . Previous studies have found that GAS plays a role of cerebral protection by inhibiting the autophagy of astrocytes . However, there are few studies and researches on its effects on myocardial cells under H/R injury and the related mechanism.…”

Activation of G protein‐coupled receptor 30 protects neurons by regulating autophagy in astrocytes

“…Primary astrocytes were prepared as previously described (Wang et al, ). Mice of 1‐ or 2‐day old (C57BL/6 mice or astrocytic GPR30 KO mice) were used.…”

Effect of inorganic salt on partition of high‐polarity parishins in two‐phase solvent systems and separation by high‐speed counter‐current chromatography from Gastrodia elata Blume

“…The tuber of Gastrodia elata Blume (tianma in Chinese) is among the most famous traditional Chinese medicine and has many clinicble al values such as the treatment of headaches, tetanus, dizziness, limb numbness, convulsion, and epilepsy . Gastrodin is considered the major bioactive constituents of tianma, and has been used in central nervous diseases including vertigo, neuralgia, and headache . Recently, pharmacological investigations have shown that in addition to gastrodin, parishins, a family of esters formed by citric acid and gastrodin or its derivatives, are also bioactive ingredients in tianma .…”