Cornuside attenuates apoptosis and ameliorates mitochondrial energy metabolism in rat cortical neurons.

Cornuside, a secoiridoid glucoside compound, was isolated from the fruit of Cornus officinalis Sieb. et Zucc. The present study elucidates the effects of cornuside on cultured rat cortical neuron damage induced by oxygen-glucose deprivation. The results show that cornuside treatment obviously attenuates apoptosis and ameliorates mitochondrial energy metabolism in rat cortical neurons by increasing the cell survival rate, mitochondrial antioxidant enzyme activities, mitochondrial respiratory enzyme activity, mitochondrial respiratory control ratio and the ATP content, and by decreasing the mitochondrial malondialdehyde content, lactate dehydrogenase leakage rate, intracellular Ca(2+) level and caspase-3 activity in a concentration-dependent manner. These findings indicate that cornuside has protective potential against cerebral ischemic injury, and its protective effects may be due to the suppression of intracellular Ca(2+) elevation and caspase-3 activity, and improvements in mitochondrial energy metabolism and antioxidant properties.