Oxidative stress is regarded as a mediator of nerve cell death in several neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's disease. Sesamin, a lignan mainly found in sesame oil, is currently under study for its anti-oxidative and possible neuroprotective properties. We used 1-methyl-4-phenyl-pyridine (MPP(+)) ion, the active metabolite of the potent parkinsonism-causing toxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine, to produce oxidative stress and neurodegeneration in neuronal PC12 cells, which express dopamine, as well as neurofilaments. Our results show that picomolar doses of sesamin protected neuronal PC12 cells from MPP(+)-induced cellular death, as revealed by colorimetric measurements and production of reactive oxygen species. We also demonstrated that sesamin acted by rescuing tyrosine hydroxylase levels from MPP(+)-induced depletion. Sesamin, however, did not modulate dopamine transporter levels, and estrogen receptor-alpha and -beta protein expression. By examining several parameters of cell distress, we found that sesamin also elicited a strong increase in superoxide dismutase activity as well as protein expression and decreased catalase activity and the MPP(+) stimulated inducible nitric oxide synthase protein expression, in neuronal PC12 cells. Finally, sesamin possessed significant anti-inflammatory properties, as disclosed by its potential to reduce MPP(+)-induced interleukin-6 mRNA levels in microglia. From these studies, we determined the importance of the lignan sesamin as a neuroprotective molecule and its possible role in complementary and/or preventive therapies of neurodegenerative diseases.
Keywords: MPP+; Parkinson's disease; dopamine; lignans; neurodegeneration; neuroinflammation; neuroprotection; oxidative stress; protein expression; sesamin.