Physalis alkekengi L. var. francheti alleviates neuronal cell death caused by activated microglia in vitro

Abstract Microglia are the macrophages that reside in brain. Activated microglia induces further activation of astrocytes and neuronal cells for mounting an immune response. However, activated release neurotoxic mediators causing neuroinflammation, which is associated with chronic etiology neurodegenerative diseases. We investigated effect ethanol extract Physalis alkekengi L. var. francheti fruit (PAFE) on cell death mediated by microglia. PAFE decreased NO production IL-6 secretion LPS-stimulated BV-2 primary microglial without reducing viability. Consistently, treatment iNOS COX-2 expression ERK phosphorylation cells. Finally, apoptosis N2a grown conditioned media prepared from containing was inhibited via downregulation Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Taken together, alleviates such as Therefore, it could be a potential candidate to treat diseases caused neuroinflammation.