Sarcandra glabra (Caoshanhu) protects mesenchymal stem cells from oxidative stress: a bioevaluation and mechanistic chemistry

Abstract

Background Sarcandra glabra (Caoshanhu) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine used for treating various oxidative-stressed diseases. The present work evaluated its protective effect on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from oxidative stress and then discussed possible mechanisms underlying this observation.MethodsEthanolic extract of S. glabra (ESG) was investigated by chemical methods for its content of total phenolics, rosmarinic acid, and astilbin. ESG, along with rosmarinic acid and astilbin, was investigated for the effect on the viability of Fenton-treated MSCs using 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl (MTT) assay. The observed cell protective effect was further explored by mechanistic chemistry using various antioxidant assays, including DNA protection, •OH-scavenging, •O2 −-scavenging, FRAP (ferric ion reducing antioxidant power), ABTS+•-scavenging, DPPH•-scavenging, and Fe2+-chelating assays.ResultsAnalysis of ESG revealed a content of 46.31 ± 0.56 mg quercetin/g total phenolics, 0.78 ± 0.01 % rosmarinic acid, and 3.37 ± 0.01 % astilbin. Results from the MTT assay revealed that three compounds (rosmarinic acid>astilbin>ESG) could effectively increase the survival of Fenton-treated MSCs. Similarly, in •O2 −-scavenging, DPPH•-scavenging, and Fe2+-chelating assays, rosmarinic acid exhibited more activity than astilbin; while in FRAP, ABTS+•-scavenging assays, astilbin was stronger than rosmarinic acid.Conclusion S. glabra can prevent MSCs from •OH-induced oxidative stress. Such protective effect can be attributed to its antioxidant ability and the presence of two kinds of phytophenols, i.e. caffeoyl derivatives and flavonoids. As the respective representatives of caffeoyl derivatives and flavonoids, rosmarinic acid and astilbin may exert the antioxidant action via direct ROS-scavenging and indirect ROS-scavenging (i.e. Fe2+-chelating). The direct ROS-scavenging ability involves hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) and/or electron transfer (ET) pathway. Astilbin engages the latter pathway more, which can be attributed to the larger planar conjugation in A/C fused rings. Rosmarinic acid, on the other hand, shows more HAT and Fe2+-chelating potential, which may be due to rosmarinic acid bearing one more catechol moiety whereas astilbin has steric-hindrance from 3-α-L-rhamnose and an H-bonding between 4,5 sites. The antioxidant features of rosmarinic acid can be generalized to other caffeoyl derivatives, while that of astilbin cannot be generalized to other flavonoids because of the difference in chemical structures.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12906-016-1383-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Structure–Activity Relationship and Prediction of the Electron‐Transfer Potential of the Xanthones Series

“…Previously, several studies reported that the catechol moiety played a critical role in phenolic antioxidants . However, Woodman insisted on a minor role of the catechol moiety .…”

Simultaneous Study of Anti-Ferroptosis and Antioxidant Mechanisms of Butein and (S)-Butin

“…In short, the antioxidant process of butein and (S)-butin is considered to be a single process comprising ET accompanied by PT (designated as ET plus PT). One important type of ET plus PT is the HAT (hydrogen atom transfer) mechanism [48,[52][53][54][55][56][57], which was determined using DPPH • as a probe. The DPPH • probe, however, was recently suggested to have some limitations [35].…”

Inhibitory Effect and Mechanism of Action of Quercetin and Quercetin Diels-Alder anti-Dimer on Erastin-Induced Ferroptosis in Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells

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