Neuroprotective effects of genistein and folic acid on apoptosis of rat cultured cortical neurons induced by beta-amyloid 31-35.

Genistein and folic acid have been reported respectively to protect against the development of cognitive dysfunction; however, the underlying mechanism(s) for this protection remain unknown. In this report, the mechanism(s) contributing to the neuroprotective effects of genistein and folic acid were explored using rat cortical neuron cultures. We found that genistein and folic acid, both separately and collaboratively, increased cell viability and mitochondrial membrane potential in beta-amyloid (Abeta) 31-35-treated neurons. Furthermore, reduced percentage of comet cells and shortened tail length were observed in the neurons treated with genistein or folic acid. A more significant reduction in tail length of the comet neurons was observed in the co-administered neurons. RT-PCR analysis of the cultured cortical neurons showed down-regulated expression of p53, bax and caspase-3, but up-regulated expression of bcl-2 in the three neuroprotective treatment groups compared with neurons from the Abeta31-35 solo-treated group. In a nuclear dyeing experiment using Hoechst 33342, we found that both genistein and folic acid prevent neuronal apoptosis. Collectively, these findings suggest that the mechanism underlying the neuroprotection of genistein and folic acid singly or in combination observed in cultured cortical neuron studies might be related to their anti-apoptotic properties.