Protective Effect of Red Ginseng and Paeonia radix against Nitric Oxide-Induced Apoptosis in Human Neuroblastoma SK-N-MC cells

Objectives : Nitric oxide(NO) is a reactive free radical and a messenger molecule in many physiological functions. However, excessive release NO of induces neurotoxicity. We investigated whether a mixture of red ginseng and paeonia radix prossesses a protective effect against sodium nitroprusside(SNP)-induced apoptosis in the human neuroblastoma cell line SK-N-MC. Methods : We performed 3- (4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide(MTT) assay, 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole(DAPD) staining, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase(TdT)-mediated dUTP nick end labeling(TUNEL)assay, DNA fragmentation assay, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR), Western blot analysis, and caspase-3 enzyme activity assay in SK-N-HFC cells. Result : MTT assay showed that SNP treatment significantly reduced the viabilities of cells and that pre-treatment with the red ginseng and paeonia radix mixture alleviated SNP-induced cytotoxicity. The cells treated with SNP exhibited several apoptotic features, while those pre-treated fir 1 h with the mixture of red ginseng and paeonia radix 1 h prior to SNP expose showed reduced apoptotic features. In addition, the cells pre-treated with the red ginseng and paeonia radix mixture for 1 h prior to SNP expose increased bel-2 expressions, decreased Bax expressions, and decreased caspase-3 enzyme activity. Conclusions : These results show that the red ginseng and paeonia radix mixture exerts a protective effect against SNP-induced apoptosis in SK-N-MC cells.