Guattegaumerine protects primary cultured cortical neurons against oxidative stress injury induced by hydrogen peroxide concomitant with serum deprivation.

Guattegaumerine is a natural product with characteristics of being lipophilic and reaching high concentration in the brain, but its function in the central nervous system has not yet been observed. This study was designed to evaluate the neuroprotective effects of guattegaumerine on rat primary cultured cortical neurons. Following a 24-h exposure of the cells to combined serum-starvation and hydrogen peroxide, a significant augment in neuron damage as determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release were observed. Preincubation of guattegaumerine dramatically improved the cell viability and inhibited LDH release. Preincubation of guattegaumerine also dramatically inhibited malondialhehyde (MDA) production and elevated the decreased total antioxidative capacity in cells caused by the combined injury. Results of flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry showed that pre-addition of guattegaumerine interrupted the apoptosis of the neurons, reversed the up regulation of the pro-apoptotic gene (Bax) and the down regulation of the anti-apoptotic gene (Bcl-2). Furthermore, guattegaumerine suppressed the increase of intracellular calcium ([Ca(2+)](i)) stimulated by either H(2)O(2) or KCl in Ca(2+)-containing extracellular solutions, and high concentration of 2.5 microM guattegaumerine also suppressed the increase of [Ca(2+)](i) induced by H(2)O(2) in Ca(2+)-free solution. These observations suggested that guattegaumerine may possess potential protection against oxidative stress injury, which might be beneficial for neurons.