Neuroprotective Effect of Melatonin against Kainic Acid-Induced Oxidative Injury in Hippocampal Slice Culture of Rats

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Hyung A Kim¹  Kyung Hee Lee² 

[1] Department of Physiology, Brain Korea 21 Project for Medical Science, Brain Research Institute, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, Korea; E-Mail:;Division of Health Science, Department of Dental Hygiene, Dongseo University, Busan 617-716, Korea; E-Mail:

关键词: melatonin;    kainic acid;    organotypic hippocampal slice culture;    reactive oxygen species;    antioxidant;    neuroprotection;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms15045940

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Endogenous melatonin is a known free radical scavenger that removes reactive oxygen species (ROS), thus, alleviating oxidative stress. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate its effect against kainic acid (KA)-induced oxidative stress in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures (OHSCs). To observe neuroprotective effects of melatonin, different concentrations (0.01, 0.1 and 1 mM) of melatonin were administrated after KA treatment for 18 h in OHSCs of rat pups. Dose-response studies showed that neuronal cell death was significantly reduced after 0.1 and 1 mM melatonin treatments based on propidium iodide (PI) uptake and cresyl violet staining. The dichlorofluorescein (DCF) fluorescence which indicates ROS formation decreased more in the melatonin-treated group than in the KA group. The expression of 5-lipoxigenase (5-LO) and caspase-3 were reduced in the melatonin-treated groups compared to the KA group. These results suggest that melatonin may be an effective agent against KA-induced oxidative stress in the OHSC model.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland