Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Propolis Component Protects Neurons

Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester Prevents Cerebellar Granule Neurons (CGNs) Against Glutamate-Induced Neurotoxicity
Neuroscience, 2008 Sep 9;155(4):1098-105

Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) is an active component of propolis obtained from honeybee hives and is found to have the following properties: anti-mitogenic, anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and antioxidant.

Recent reports suggest that CAPE also has a neuronal protective property against ischemic injury. Since excitotoxicity may play an important role in ischemia, in this study, we investigated whether CAPE could directly protect neurons against excitotoxic insult…

These results suggest that CAPE is able to block glutamate-induced excitotoxicity by inhibiting phosphorylation of p38 and caspase-3 activation. This finding may further help understanding of the mechanism of glutamate-induced neuronal death and CAPE-induced neuroprotection against excitotoxicity.

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