The protective effect of geniposide on human neuroblastoma cells in the presence of formaldehyde

Abstract

BackgroundFormaldehyde can induce misfolding and aggregation of Tau protein and β amyloid protein, which are characteristic pathological features of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). An increase in endogenous formaldehyde concentration in the brain is closely related to dementia in aging people. Therefore, the discovery of effective drugs to counteract the adverse impact of formaldehyde on neuronal cells is beneficial for the development of appropriate treatments for age-associated cognitive decline.MethodsIn this study, we assessed the neuroprotective properties of TongLuoJiuNao (TLJN), a traditional Chinese medicine preparation, against formaldehyde stress in human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y cell line). The effect of TLJN and its main ingredients (geniposide and ginsenoside Rg1) on cell viability, apoptosis, intracellular antioxidant activity and the expression of apoptotic-related genes in the presence of formaldehyde were monitored.ResultsCell counting studies showed that in the presence of TLJN, the viability of formaldehyde-treated SH-SY5Y cells significantly recovered. Laser scanning confocal microscopy revealed that the morphology of formaldehyde-injured cells was rescued by TLJN and geniposide, an effective ingredient of TLJN. Moreover, the inhibitory effect of geniposide on formaldehyde-induced apoptosis was dose-dependent. The activity of intracellular antioxidants (superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase) increased, as did mRNA and protein levels of the antiapoptotic gene Bcl-2 after the addition of geniposide. In contrast, the expression of the apoptotic-related gene - P53, apoptotic executer - caspase 3 and apoptotic initiator - caspase 9 were downregulated after geniposide treatment.ConclusionsOur results indicate that geniposide can protect SH-SY5Y cells against formaldehyde stress through modulating the expression of Bcl-2, P53, caspase 3 and caspase 9, and by increasing the activity of intracellular superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase.

Effect of carnosine supplementation on apoptosis and irisin, total oxidant and antioxidants levels in the serum, liver and lung tissues in rats exposed to formaldehyde inhalation

“…Overall the information above suggests that FA damages a number of tissues, reduces their antioxidant capacity [6,19,20,39,47,48,49], and impairs energy metabolism regulation [9]. Antioxidant molecules can help prevent or elimination this damage [6,19,20,39,47,48,49].…”

“…Many studies with FA have shown that it causes oxidative stress, also indicated by the fact that therapeutic antioxidant administration reduces the damage [6,39,48]. It is now essential to offset the harmful effects of FA, which is commonly used not only in medicine, but also in daily life.…”

“…Antioxidant molecules can help prevent or elimination this damage [6,19,20,39,47,48,49]. Carnosine (C), an antioxidant dipeptide, beta-alanyl-L-histidine, is found in muscle and brain tissues [11].…”

The herbal compound geniposide rescues formaldehyde-induced apoptosis in N2a neuroblastoma cells

“…GP and PNS were obtained from the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control (China). TLJN was prepared by mixing extracts of gardenia and pseudoginseng in proportions determined using HPLC in previous experiments [23]. TLJN contains 10 parts GP to one part Rg1.…”

“…Conditions were as for Figure 6, except cellular morphology (A) and cell density (B) were GP+FA, TLJN+FA, PNS+FA, FA alone, and saline as indicated (provided by Sun et al [23]). Cells with no treatment were used as control.…”