Momordica charantia polysaccharides could protect against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury through inhibiting oxidative stress mediated c-Jun N-terminal kinase 3 signaling pathway.

Abstract

Momordica charantia (MC) is a medicinal plant for stroke treatment in Traditional Chinese Medicine, but its active compounds and molecular targets are unknown yet. M. charantia polysaccharide (MCP) is one of the important bioactive components in MC. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that MCP has neuroprotective effects against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury through scavenging superoxide (O2(-)), nitric oxide (NO) and peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)) and inhibiting c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK3) signaling cascades. We conducted experiments with in vivo global and focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion rat models and in vitro oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) neural cells. The effects of MCP on apoptotic cell death and infarction volume, the bioactivities of scavenging O2(-), NO and ONOO(-), inhibiting lipid peroxidation and modulating JNK3 signaling pathway were investigated. Major results are summarized as below: (1) MCP dose-dependently attenuated apoptotic cell death in neural cells under OGD condition in vitro and reduced infarction volume in ischemic brains in vivo; (2) MCP had directing scavenging effects on NO, O2(-) and ONOO(-) and inhibited lipid peroxidation; (3) MCP inhibited the activations of JNK3/c-Jun/Fas-L and JNK3/cytochrome C/caspases-3 signaling cascades in ischemic brains in vivo. Taken together, we conclude that MCP could be a promising neuroprotective ingredient of M. charantia and its mechanisms could be at least in part attributed to its antioxidant activities and inhibiting JNK3 signaling cascades during cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.

• Authors: Juanjuan Gong, Fumou Sun, Yihang Li, Xiaoling Zhou, Zhenzhen Duan, Fugang Duan, Lei Zhao, Hansen Chen, Suhua Qi, Jiangang Shen
• Journal: Neuropharmacology (Neuropharmacology) Vol. 91 Pg. 123-34 (Apr 2015) ISSN: 1873-7064 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 25510970 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Drugs, Chinese Herbal
• Free Radicals
• Neuroprotective Agents
• Polysaccharides
• Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 10

Topics

• Animals
• Brain Ischemia (drug therapy)
• Cell Death (drug effects)
• Drugs, Chinese Herbal (administration & dosage)
• Free Radicals (metabolism)
• Male
• Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 10 (metabolism)
• Momordica charantia (chemistry)
• Neuroprotective Agents (administration & dosage)
• Oxidative Stress (drug effects)
• Phytotherapy
• Polysaccharides (administration & dosage)
• Rats
• Rats, Sprague-Dawley
• Reperfusion Injury (drug therapy)
• Signal Transduction (drug effects)