Bark Constituents from Mushroom-detoxified Rhus verniciflua Suppress Kainic Acid-induced Neuronal Cell Death in Mouse Hippocampus.
10.4196/kjpp.2010.14.5.279
- Author:
Jong Seon BYUN
1
;
Yoon Hee HAN
;
Sung Jun HONG
;
Sung Mi HWANG
;
Yong Soo KWON
;
Hee Jae LEE
;
Sung Soo KIM
;
Myong Jo KIM
;
Wanjoo CHUN
Author Information
1. Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea. wchun@kangwon.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Kainic acid;
Neuroprotection;
Stigma-4-en-3-one;
Stigma-4-en-3,6-dione
- MeSH:
Agaricales;
Animals;
Cell Death;
Fermentation;
Herbal Medicine;
Hippocampus;
Kainic Acid;
Mice;
Neurons;
Plants;
Rhus
- From:The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
2010;14(5):279-283
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Urushinol, a plant allergen, has significantly restricted the medical application of Rhus verniciflua, although it has been reported to possess a wide variety of biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-cancer actions. To reduce the urushinol content while maintaining the beneficial biological activities, mushroom-mediated fermentation of Rhus verniciflua was carried out and this method resulted in significantly attenuated allergenicity [1]. In the present study, to examine the neuroprotective properties of mushroom-fermented stem bark of Rhus verniciflua, two constituents were isolated from mushroom-fermented bark and their neuroprotective properties were examined in a mouse model of kainic acid (KA)-induced excitotoxicity. KA resulted in significant apoptotic neuronal cell death in the CA3 region of mouse hippocampus. However, seven daily administrations of RVH-1 or RVH-2 prior to KA injection significantly attenuated KA-induced pyramidal neuronal cell death in the CA3 region. Furthermore, pretreatment with RVH-1 and RVH-2 also suppressed KA-induced microglial activation in the mouse hippocampus. The present study demonstrates that RVH-1 and RVH-2 isolated from Rhus verniciflua and detoxified using mushroom species possess neuroprotective properties against KA-induced excitotoxicity. This leads to the possibility that detoxified Rhus verniciflua can be a valuable asset in herbal medicine.
