Abstract
(S)-cis-verbenol, a natural metabolite from (-)-alpha-pinene of host pine tree, has been suggested to have anti-ischemic activity. However, the exact mechanism for the anti-ischemic activity of (S)-cis-verbenol remains unclear yet. In the present study, (S)-cis-verbenol reduced cerebral ischemic injury caused by 1.5-h middle cerebral artery occlusion followed by 24-h reperfusion. Furthermore, (S)-cis-verbenol significantly prevented neuronal cell death caused by oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD, 1 h) and subsequent re-oxygenation (5 h). While (S)-cis-verbenol did not inhibit the NMDA-stimulated calcium influx, it reduced the intracellular level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) elevated by OGD/re-oxygenation. ORAC assay indicated that (S)-cis-verbenol potently eliminated peroxyl radicals. In DPPH and DHR123 fluorescence assays, however, (S)-cis-verbenol did not show a direct ROS scavenging effect. Furthermore, (S)-cis-verbenol reduced the expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in ischemic brain and immunostimulated glial cells. The present results indicate that (S)-cis-verbenol may be a useful therapeutic agent due to its anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities.
Declaration of interest: This study was supported by a grant (#2009K001250) from Brain Research Center of the 21st Century Frontier Research Program funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology and a grant from the Brain Korea 21 Project (to Dr. I. Y. Choi), the Republic of Korea. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
This paper was first published online on Early Online on 9 March 2010.