Study on the protective effect of Xiaoyaosan on corticosterone-induced PC12 injury model and its neuroprotective components

Abstract:

Objective To study the neuroprotective effect of Xiaoyaosan and its chemical composition，and to identify the active ingredients in Xiaoyaosan responsible for neuroprotection.Methods Xiaoyaosan was extracted using water，and the chemical composition of extract was analyzed using high-resolution mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography. Moreover，we prepared Xiaoyaosan-containing serum and established a corticosterone（CORT，400 μmol/L） -induced PC12 cell injury model to evaluate the impact of the drug-containing serum on the proliferation rate of PC12 cells. Then we used SIMCA software to analyze the correlations between cell proliferation rate and drug components to identify the compounds in Xiaoyaosan that may have neuroprotective effects.Results Compared with the model group，the drug-containing serum could reduce the cell injury induced by CORT and promote cell proliferation（P=0.000）. Analysis of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry data in software showed that the main medicinal compounds were：paeoniflorin，glycyrrhizic acid，liquiritin，rosmarinic acid，gallic acid，2-phenylacetaldehyde，（15Z）-9，12，13-trihydroxy-15-octadecenoic acid，salvianolic acid B，and licorice saponin G2. The experimental results of individual compounds showed that phenylacetaldehyde was effective in neuroprotection（P=0.000）.Conclusion This research proves that Xiaoyaosan has neuroprotective effect. Fifty-five compounds were identified as potential ingredients involved in neuroprotection. Seven compounds，previously unreported and possessing potential neuroprotective properties，were identified in Xiaoyaosan. In addition，we demonstrate that phenylacetaldehyde has a neuroprotective effect，which has not been reported. The results of this study provide a reference for elucidating the material basis of the neuroprotective effect of Xiaoyaosan，and also provide data support for expanding the clinical application of Xiaoyaosan.