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Danshen formula granule and salvianic acid A alleviate ethanol-induced neurotoxicity

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Abstract

As a direct neurotoxin, ethanol exposure is associated with nerve damage and dysfunction of central nervous system (CNS) and induced obvious neurotoxicity by increasing the reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, activation of endogenous apoptotic as well as necrotic signals, and other molecular mechanisms. The previous studies had demonstrated that natural herbal medicine offers protective effectiveness on ethanol-induced nerve cell damage. Danshen and its extracts have been known to have an antioxidant property and neuroprotective effects. However, the protective effects of Danshen formula granule and salvianic acid A on ethanol-induced neurotoxicity remain unknown. In this study, we found that the Danshen formula granule and salvianic acid A significantly inhibited the ethanol-induced cell death, blocked LDH release, and reduced dendritic spine loss. Furthermore, the intracellular ROS, MDA production, and ethanol-induced apoptosis were significantly ameliorated with Danshen formula granule and salvianic acid A pretreatment by increasing the antioxidant enzymatic activity of CAT, SOD and GSH-Px, and inhibiting apoptotic pathways. In addition, Danshen formula granule and salvianic acid A pretreatment obviously inhibit the apoptotic pathways by regulating the protein expression of Bcl-2, Bax, and Caspase-3. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that the Danshen formula granule and salvianic acid A provide a significantly protective effectiveness against ethanol-induced neurotoxicity, which might be a potential therapeutic drug for ethanol-induced neurological disorders.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Grants from the Key Science and Technology Fund of Henan Province in China (no. 182102310120), the Medical Scientific and Technological Project of Henan Province in China (no. SB201902030), project funded by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (no. 2019M652542).

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  1. Yujia Li and Hui Chen contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Cancer Biomarkers and Liquid Biopsy, School of Pharmacy, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, Henan, China

    Yujia Li, Hui Chen, Yating Yang, Menglan Niu, Jiaxin Wang, Yuanyuan Wu, Hongliang Liu & Dengke Bao

  2. Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, Henan University People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, China

    Dengke Bao

  3. Department of Pharmacy, Nanyang Medical College, Nayang, 473000, Henan, China

    Linhui Niu

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  1. Yujia Li
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Li, Y., Chen, H., Yang, Y. et al. Danshen formula granule and salvianic acid A alleviate ethanol-induced neurotoxicity. J Nat Med 74, 399–408 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11418-019-01379-4

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