Red Ginseng Extract Attenuates Kainate-Induced Excitotoxicity by Antioxidative Effects

This study investigated the neuroprotective activity of red ginseng extract (RGE, Panax ginseng, C. A. Meyer) against kainic acid( KA-) induced excitotoxicity in vitro and in vivo. In hippocampal cells, RGE inhibited KA-induced excitotoxicity in a dose-dependent manner as measured by the MTT assay. To study the possible mechanisms of the RGE-mediated neuroprotective effect against KA-induced cytotoxicity, we examined the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and [Ca2+](i) in cultured hippocampal neurons and found that RGE treatment dose-dependently inhibited intracellular ROS and [Ca2+](i) elevation. Oral administration of RGE (30 and 200 mg/kg) in mice decreased the malondialdehyde (MDA) level induced by KA injection (30 mg/kg, i. p.). In addition, similar results were obtained after pretreatment with the radical scavengers Trolox and N,N'-dimethylthiourea (DMTU). Finally, after confirming the protective effect of RGE on hippocampal brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) protein levels, we found that RGE is active compounds mixture in KA-induced hippocampal mossy-fiber function improvement. Furthermore, RGE eliminated 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals, and the IC50 was approximately 10 mg/ml. The reductive activity of RGE, as measured by reaction with hydroxyl radical ((OH)-O-center dot), was similar to trolox. The second-order rate constant of RGE for (OH)-O-center dot was 3.5-4.5 x 10(9) M-1.S-1. Therefore, these results indicate that RGE possesses radical reduction activity and alleviates KA-induced excitotoxicity by quenching ROS in hippocampal neurons.