Ververis Antonis, Kyriakou Sotiris, Paraskeva Hariklia, Panayiotidis Mihalis I, Plioukas Michael, Christodoulou Kyproula
Neurogenetics Department, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, Nicosia 2371, Cyprus.
Department of Cancer Genetics, Therapeutics and Ultrastructural Pathology, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, Nicosia 2371, Cyprus.
Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Nov 30;25(23):12902. doi: 10.3390/ijms252312902.
L., commonly known as eyebright, is a medicinal plant used in folk medicine for eye disorders and memory loss. Due to its abundance of compounds with proven neuroprotective properties, there has been growing interest in exploring eyebright's potential health benefits, particularly for preventing or treating neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease. Here, seven distinct extracts were generated using solvents of different polarities, consecutively, from plants grown in Greece. The extracts were chemically characterized and assessed for their antioxidant, anticholinesterase, and anti-neurotoxic potentials. Our findings demonstrated eyebright's notable antioxidant capacity with five extracts exhibiting significant anti-neurotoxic properties by enhancing cell viability by 17.5 to 22.6% in human neuroblastoma cells exposed to neurotoxic amyloid-beta peptides. The ethyl acetate and butanolic extracts were the most effective across all assays, likely due to their high concentrations of active compounds. Therefore, eyebright may be harnessed for developing functional foods, supplements, and pharmaceuticals with potential benefits against Alzheimer's disease. This study marks the first identification of neuroprotective properties in a species, highlighting its broader therapeutic potential and paving the way for further research.
L.，俗称小米草，是一种在民间医学中用于治疗眼部疾病和记忆力减退的药用植物。由于其含有大量已被证实具有神经保护特性的化合物，人们对探索小米草潜在的健康益处的兴趣日益浓厚，尤其是在预防或治疗像阿尔茨海默病这样的神经退行性疾病方面。在此，我们连续使用不同极性的溶剂从希腊种植的植物中提取了七种不同的提取物。对这些提取物进行了化学表征，并评估了它们的抗氧化、抗胆碱酯酶和抗神经毒性潜力。我们的研究结果表明，小米草具有显著的抗氧化能力，其中五种提取物通过使暴露于神经毒性淀粉样β肽的人神经母细胞瘤细胞的细胞活力提高17.5%至22.6%，表现出显著的抗神经毒性特性。乙酸乙酯提取物和丁醇提取物在所有检测中最为有效，这可能是由于它们含有高浓度的活性化合物。因此，小米草可用于开发对阿尔茨海默病可能有益的功能性食品、补充剂和药物。这项研究首次确定了该物种的神经保护特性，突出了其更广泛的治疗潜力，并为进一步研究铺平了道路。
