ABSTRACT: Ethanol is a principle
ingredient of alcoholic beverages with potential neurotoxicity and
genotoxicity, and the ethanol-associated oxidative DNA damage in the
central nervous system is well documented. Natural source compounds may
offer new options to protect the brain against ethanol-induced
genotoxicity. Veratrum maackii Regel is a toxic rangeland plant linked
to teratogenicity which is also used in traditional Chinese medicine as
“Lilu” and is reported to contain a family of compounds called stilbenes
that can have positive biological activity. In this study, nine
stilbenes were isolated from the aerial parts of V. maackii Regel, and
their structures were identified as cis-mulberroside A (1),
resveratrol-4,3′-O-β-d-diglucopyranoside (2), mulberroside A (3),
gentifolin K (4), resveratrol-3,5-O-β-d-diglucopyranoside (5),
oxyresveratrol- 4′-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (6),
oxyresveratrol-3-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (7), oxyresveratrol (8), and
resveratrol (9) using ESI-MS and NMR techniques. The total concentration
of extracted compounds 2–9 was 2.04 mg/g, suggesting that V. maackii
Regel is a novel viable source of these compounds. In an in vivo comet
assay, compounds 1–9 were observed to decrease DNA damage in mouse
cerebellum and cerebral cortex caused by acute ethanol administration.
Histological observation also revealed decreased brain injury in mice
administered with compounds 1–9 after acute ethanol administration. The
protective effects of compound 6 were associated with increasing T-SOD
and GSH-PX activities and a decrease in NO and MDA concentrations. These
findings suggest that these compounds are potent inhibitors of
ethanol-induced brain injury possibly via the inhibition of oxidative
stress and may be valuable leads for future therapeutic development. Stilbenes.pdf
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