Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, Central Food Technological Research Institute (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research), Mysore, India.
Phytother Res. 2010 Jun;24(6):885-92. doi: 10.1002/ptr.3042.
While the usage of Centella asiatica (CA) is on the increase worldwide, evidence demonstrating its protective efficacy against neurotoxicants is scarce. Hence the present study aimed to understand the neuroprotective efficacy of a standardized aqueous extract of CA against 3-nitropropionic-acid(3-NPA)-induced oxidative stress in the brain of prepubertal mice. We assessed the degree of oxidative stress in cytoplasm of brain regions of male mice (4 wk- old) given CA prophylaxis (5 mg/kg bw) for 10 days followed by 3-NPA administration (i.p.75 mg/kg bw) on the last 2 days. The neurotoxicant elicited marked oxidative stress in the brain of untreated mice as evident by enhanced malondialdehyde levels, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, hydroperoxides and protein carbonyls (a measure of protein oxidation) in striatum and other regions (cortex, cerebellum and hippocampus), while CA prophylaxis completely ameliorated the 3-NPA- induced oxidative stress. Depletion of glutathione (GSH) levels, total thiols, perturbations in antioxidant enzymes and cholinergic enzymes in brain discernible among 3-NPA-treated mice were predominantly restored to normalcy with CA prophylaxis. It is hypothesized that the prophylactic protection offered by CA extract against neurotoxicant exposure may be largely due to its ability to enhance GSH, thiols and antioxidant defenses in the brain of prepubertal mice.
当积雪草（CA）的使用在全球范围内增加时，证明其对神经毒素的保护作用的证据却很少。因此，本研究旨在了解一种标准化的积雪草水提物对幼鼠大脑中 3-硝基丙酸（3-NPA）诱导的氧化应激的神经保护作用。我们评估了给予 CA 预防（5mg/kg bw）10 天，然后在最后 2 天给予 3-NPA（i.p.75mg/kg bw）的雄性幼鼠（4 周龄）脑区细胞质中的氧化应激程度。神经毒素在未处理的小鼠大脑中引起明显的氧化应激，表现为纹状体和其他区域（皮质、小脑和海马体）中的丙二醛水平、活性氧（ROS）生成、过氧化物和蛋白质羰基（蛋白质氧化的一种衡量标准）升高，而 CA 预防完全改善了 3-NPA 诱导的氧化应激。在 3-NPA 处理的小鼠中，大脑中谷胱甘肽（GSH）水平、总巯基、抗氧化酶和胆碱能酶的耗竭明显恢复正常，这主要归因于 CA 提取物对神经毒素暴露的预防作用。可以假设，CA 提取物对神经毒素暴露提供的预防保护作用可能主要归因于其增强幼鼠大脑中 GSH、巯基和抗氧化防御的能力。
