Microglia are the macrophages that reside in the brain. Activated microglia induces further activation of astrocytes and neuronal cells for mounting an immune response. However, activated microglia release neurotoxic mediators causing neuroinflammation, which is associated with chronic etiology of neurodegenerative diseases. We investigated the effect of ethanol extract of Physalis alkekengi L. var. francheti fruit (PAFE) on neuronal cell death mediated by activated microglia. PAFE decreased NO production and IL-6 secretion in LPS-stimulated BV-2 and primary microglial cells without reducing cell viability. Consistently, treatment with PAFE decreased iNOS and COX-2 expression and ERK phosphorylation in LPS-stimulated BV-2 cells. Finally, apoptosis of N2a cells grown in conditioned media prepared from LPS-stimulated BV-2 cells containing PAFE was inhibited via downregulation of the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Taken together, PAFE alleviates neuronal cell death by reducing neurotoxic mediators such as NO and IL-6 from activated microglia. Therefore, it could be a potential candidate to treat neurodegenerative diseases caused by chronic neuroinflammation.

中文翻译：

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酸浆属变种。Francheti减轻了体外激活的小胶质细胞引起的神经元细胞死亡

小胶质细胞是驻留在大脑中的巨噬细胞。活化的小胶质细胞诱导星形胶质细胞和神经元细胞的进一步活化，从而引发免疫反应。然而，活化的小胶质细胞释放引起神经炎症的神经毒性介质，这与神经退行性疾病的慢性病因有关。我们调查了酸浆乙醇提取物的作用。水果（PAFE）对活化的小胶质细胞介导的神经元细胞死亡的影响。PAFE降低了LPS刺激的BV-2和原代小胶质细胞的NO产生和IL-6分泌，而没有降低细胞活力。一致地，用PAFE处理可降低LPS刺激的BV-2细胞中的iNOS和COX-2表达以及ERK磷酸化。最后，通过下调Bax / Bcl-2比例，可以抑制由含有PAFE的LPS刺激的BV-2细胞制备的条件培养基中生长的N2a细胞的凋亡。两者合计，PAFE通过减少神经毒性介质（如活化小胶质细胞的NO和IL-6）减轻神经元细胞死亡。因此，它可能是治疗由慢性神经炎症引起的神经退行性疾病的潜在候选者。