Quercetin and Sesamin Protect Dopaminergic Cells from MPP⁺-Induced Neuroinflammation in a Microglial (N9)-Neuronal (PC12) Coculture System

Figure 1

IL-6 (a), IL-1β (b), and TNFα (c) mRNA levels in N9 microglial cells treated first for 3 h with quercetin or sesamin and then with or without MPP⁺. After 24 h, total RNA was extracted from microglial cells and qRT-PCR was performed. MPP⁺ clearly induced significant increases of IL-6 (a), IL-1β (b), and TNFα (c) mRNA levels. When N9 microglial cells were treated with quercetin or sesamin 3 h prior to MPP⁺, we detected significant decreases of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNFα mRNA levels (MPP⁺ quercetin, MPP⁺ sesamin). Bars represent the average intensity of the bands ± SEM of 3 independent experiments expressed as % of the controls. ***𝑃<0.001 compared to the control (Ctrl), ^◊◊𝑃<0.01 and ^◊𝑃<0.05 compared to MPP⁺, as determined by 1-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s multiple comparison test.

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