Potential Application of Yokukansan as a Remedy for Parkinson’s Disease

Table 3

Neuroprotective effect of YKS on various in vitro systems.

Model	Cell type	Inducer	Extracts/components	Dose/route/regimen	Major finding	Histological & biochemical evaluation	Reference
Neuroprotection	Hippocampal neurons	Corticosterone (CORT)	YKS	100-1000 μg/mL, p.o.; five times every 12 h before cocaine treatment	Cell survival rates measured by the WST-8 and LDH assays ↑		[52]
	Rat cortical neurons	20 μM; Aβ-induced cytotoxicity	YGS	10^−5 g/L (w/v) for 24 h before exposure to 20 μM Aβ	The surviving cortical neurons determined by MTT and LDH assays ↑		[53]
Oxidative stress	PC12 cells	Glutamate (1–17.5 mM)-induced cytotoxicity	YKS	125-500 μg /mL	Protection against PC12 cell death determined by MTT assay	Reduction of intracellular GSH level ↓	[54]
	PC12 cells	Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced apoptosis	YGS40	100 μmol/L of H2O2 for 12 h	Cytotoxicity determined by MTT and LDH assays ↓	Annexin V-positive ↓; caspase-3 activity ↓; Bax ↓; Bcl-2 ↑; MMP loss ↓; activity of SOD ↑; MDA generation ↓	[55]
Neurotransmission	Chinese hamster ovary; cells	Competitive binding for 5-HT receptors on CHO (CHO-h5-HT1A) or CHO-K1; (CHO-K1-h5-HT2A) cells	YKS	6.25-400 μg /mL	Partial agonistic effect on 5- receptors		[56]

LDH=lactate dehydrogenase, MMP=mitochondrial membrane potential, SOD=superoxide dismutase, and MDA=malondialdehyde.