Cerebrolysin is the only drug available for clinical use containing active fragments of some important
neurotrophic factors obtained from purified porcine brain
proteins, which has long been used for the treatment of
dementia and
stroke sequels.
Cerebrolysin has
growth factor-like activities and promotes neuronal survival and sprouting, however, its molecular mechanism still needs to be determined. It has been shown that
Cerebrolysin may interact with proteolytic pathways linked to apoptosis. Administration of
Cerebrolysin significantly reduces the number of apoptotic neurons after
glutamate exposure. Furthermore, it has been reported that
Cerebrolysin inhibits
free radicals formation and lipid peroxidation. In vitro we evaluated the protective effects of
Cerebrolysin towards spontaneous and induced apoptotic death in cells from healthy individuals. Peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) from 10 individuals were used as cell model; 2-deoxy-D-ribose (dRib), a highly reducing
sugar, was used as paradigm pro-apoptotic stimulus. Apoptosis was analysed using flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy. Our results showed that
Cerebrolysin significantly reduced the number of apoptotic PBLs after dRib treatment, although it had no significative effects on cells cultured in standard conditions. Our work showed a protective effect of
Cerebrolysin on oxidative stress-induced apoptosis and suggested that PBLs can be used as an easy obtainable and handy cell model to verify
Cerebrolysin effects in neurodegenerative pathologies.