Protective Effect of Quercetin against Oxidative Stress-Induced Cytotoxicity in Rat Pheochromocytoma (PC-12) Cells

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 22; no. 7; p. 1122
• Main Authors: Bao, Dengke, Wang, Jingkai, Pang, Xiaobin, Liu, Hongliang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 06.07.2017; MDPI
• Subjects: Adrenal Gland Neoplasms - enzymology; Adrenal Gland Neoplasms - pathology; Animals; antioxidant; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - metabolism; Apoptosis; Apoptosis - drug effects; Bcl-2 protein; Caspase; Caspase 3 - metabolism; Caspase-3; Catalase; Chemical compounds; Cytotoxicity; Glutathione peroxidase; Hippocampus; Hydrogen peroxide; Hydrogen Peroxide - toxicity; L-Lactate dehydrogenase; Lactate dehydrogenase; Lactic acid; Malondialdehyde; Malondialdehyde - metabolism; Models, Biological; Molecular modelling; Neurological diseases; Neuroprotective Agents - pharmacology; Oxidation; Oxidative stress; Oxidative Stress - drug effects; p53 Protein; Parkinson's disease; Pathogenesis; PC12 Cells; Peroxidase; Pharmacology; Pheochromocytoma - enzymology; Pheochromocytoma - pathology; Pretreatment; Quercetin; Quercetin - pharmacology; Rats; Reactive Oxygen Species - metabolism; Superoxide dismutase; quercetin; antioxidant; Parkinson’s disease; oxidative stress
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules22071122

Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many kinds of neurodegenerative disorders, particularly Parkinson's disease. Quercetin is a bioflavonoid found ubiquitously in fruits and vegetables, and has antioxidative activity. However, the underlying mechanism of the antioxidative effect of quercetin in neurodegenerative diseases has not been well explored. Here, we investigated the antioxidative effect and underlying molecular mechanisms of quercetin on PC-12 cells. We found that PC-12 cells pretreated with quercetin exhibited an increased cell viability and reduced lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release when exposed to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). The significantly-alleviated intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), and lipoperoxidation of the cell membrane of PC-12 cells induced by H₂O₂ were observed in the quercetin pretreated group. Furthermore, quercetin pretreatment markedly reduced the apoptosis of PC-12 cells and hippocampal neurons. The inductions of antioxidant enzyme catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in PC-12 cells exposed to H₂O₂ were significantly reduced by preatment with quercetin. In addition, quercetin pretreatment significantly increased Bcl-2 expression, and reduced Bax, cleaved caspase-3 and p53 expressions. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that quercetin exhibited a protective effect against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis in PC-12 cells. Our findings suggested that quercetin may be developed as a novel therapeutic agent for neurodegenerative diseases induced by oxidative stress.