| Abstract: | Sutherlandia (Sutherlandia frutescens) and elderberry
(Sambucus spp.) are used to promote health and for treatment of a
number of ailments. Although studies with cultured cells have demonstrated antioxidative
and anti-inflammatory properties of these botanicals, little is known about their ability
to mitigate brain injury. In this study, C57BL/6 J male mice were fed AIN93G diets without
or with Sutherlandia or American elderberry for 2 months prior to a 30-min global cerebral
ischemia induced by occlusion of the bilateral common carotid arteries (BCCAs), followed
by reperfusion for 3 days. Accelerating rotarod assessment at 24 h after BCCA occlusion
showed amelioration of sensorimotor impairment in the mice fed the supplemented diets as
compared with the ischemic mice fed the control diet. Quantitative digital pathology
assessment of brain slides stained with cresyl violet at 3 days after ischemia/reperfusion
(I/R) revealed significant reduction in neuronal cell death in both dietary groups.
Immunohistochemical staining for ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule-1 demonstrated
pronounced activation of microglia in the hippocampus and striatum in the ischemic brains
3 days after I/R, and microglial activation was significantly reduced in animals fed
supplemented diets. Mitigation of microglial activation by the supplements was further
supported by the decrease in expression of p47phox, a cytosolic subunit of NADPH oxidase,
and phospho-ERK1/2, a mitogen-activated protein kinase known to mediate a number of
cytoplasmic processes including oxidative stress and neuroinflammatory responses. These
results demonstrate neuroprotective effect of Sutherlandia and American elderberry
botanicals against oxidative and inflammatory responses to cerebral I/R. |
