Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Many active components of traditional Chinese medicine of brain nerve protection screened in vitro have been limited in clinical application because of difficulties in passing through blood brain barrier due to low liposolubility.
OBJECTIVE: To compare the protective effect of ferulic acid and its esterified products ferulic acid methyl ester and ethyl ester on in vitro survival of primary cultred cerebral cortex neurons. 
METHODS: Cerebral cortex neurons from rats at postnatal 1 day were isolated by enzyme digestion method. After 6 days of culture, these neurons were interfered with ferulic acid, ferulic acid methyl ester and ethyl ester and then cultured for 1 day.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Morphological results showed that cells well grew. Neuron specific enolase staining showed that after 6 days of culture, most of surviving cells were neurons. MTT examination results showed that compared with blank control group, 200 mg/L ferulic acid could obviously promote the survival of cerebral cortex neurons, while 0.16-20 mg/L ferulic acid methyl ester and ethyl ester could obviously promote the in vitro survival of neurons, with similar tendency and strength. These results suggest that ferulic acid esterified products ferulic acid methyl ester and ethyl ester can promote the in vitro survival of primary cultured cerebral cortex neurons, exhibiting good protective effects on brain neurons, with stronger activity than ferulic acid.