Chemical Characterization and Determination of the Antioxidant Properties of Phenolic Compounds in Three Scutellaria sp. Plants Grown in Colombia.

Plants of the genus Scutellaria (Lamiaceae) have a wide variety of bioactive secondary metabolites with diverse biological properties, e.g., anti-inflammatory, antiallergenic, antioxidant, antiviral, and antitumor activities. The chemical composition of the hydroethanolic extracts, obtained from dried plants of S. incarnata, S. coccinea, and S. ventenatii × S. incarnata, was determined by UHPLC/ESI-Q-Orbitrap-MS. The flavones were found in a higher proportion. Baicalin and dihydrobaicalein-glucuronide were the major extract components in S. incarnata (287.127 ± 0.005 mg/g and 140.18 ± 0.07 mg/g), in S. coccinea (158.3 ± 0.34 mg/g and 51.20 ± 0.02 mg/g), and in S. ventenatii × S. incarnata (186.87 ± 0.01 mg/g and 44.89 ± 0.06 mg/g). The S. coccinea extract showed the highest antioxidant activity in the four complementary techniques employed to evaluate all extracts: ORAC (3828 ± 3.0 µmol Trolox®/g extract), ABTS+• (747 ± 1.8 µmol Trolox®/g extract), online HPLC-ABTS+• (910 ± 1.3 µmol Trolox®/g extract), and ß-carotene (74.3 ± 0.8 µmol Trolox®/g extract).

Vascular endothelial growth factor-B is neuroprotective in an in vivo rat model of Parkinson's disease.

Developing novel neuroprotective strategies for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) is of great importance. We have previously shown that vascular endothelial growth factor-B (VEGF-B) is up-regulated in an in vitro model of PD using the neurotoxin rotenone. Addition of exogenous VEGF-B(167) was neuroprotective in this same model, suggesting that VEGF-B is a natural response to neurodegenerative challenges. Now we have extended this research using in vivo experiments. We tested a single intra-striatal injection of 3 µg VEGF-B(186), the more diffusible VEGF-B isoform, in a mild progressive unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) rat in vivo PD model. Treatment with VEGF-B(186) 6h prior to lesioning with 6-OHDA improved amphetamine-induced rotations and forepaw preference at 2, 4 and 6 weeks post-injection, indicating a neuroprotective effect. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that VEGF-B(186) treatment partially protected dopaminergic fibers in the striatum and demonstrated a partial rescue of the dopaminergic neurons in the caudal sub-region of the substantia nigra. Altogether our data suggest that VEGF-B(186) could be a new candidate trophic factor for the treatment of PD.

The yin and yang of VEGF and PEDF: multifaceted neurotrophic factors and their potential in the treatment of Parkinson's Disease.

Over the last few decades, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) have emerged as multifaceted players in not only the pathogenesis, but potential treatment, of numerous diseases. They activate diverse intracellular signaling cascades known to have extensive crosstalk, and have been best studied for their effects in cardiology and cancer biology. Recent work with the two factors indicates that the activity of one growth factor is often directly related to the action of the other. Their respective neuroprotective effects, in particular, raise important questions regarding the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson's disease.