Neuroprotective effects of lotus seedpod procyanidins on extremely low frequency electromagnetic field-induced neurotoxicity in primary cultured hippocampal neurons

The present study investigated the protective effects of lotus seedpod procyanidins (LSPCs) on extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF)-induced neurotoxicity in primary cultured rat hippocampal neurons and the underlying molecular mechanism. The results of MTT, morphological observation, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) assays showed that compared with control, incubating neurons under ELF-EMF exposure significantly decreased cell viability and increased the number of apoptotic cells, whereas LSPCs evidently protected the hippocampal neurons against ELF-EMF-induced cell damage. Moreover, a certain concentration of LSPCs inhibited the elevation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and Ca2+ level, as well as prevented the disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential induced by ELF-EMF exposure. In addition, supplementation with LSPCs could alleviate DNA damage, block cell cycle arrest at S phase, and inhibit apoptosis and necrosis of hippocampal neurons under ELF-EMF exposure. Further study demonstrated that LSPCs up-regulated the activations of Bcl-2, Bcl-xl proteins and suppressed the expressions of Bad, Bax proteins caused by ELF-EMF exposure. In conclusion, these findings revealed that LSPCs protected against ELF-EMF-induced neurotoxicity through inhibiting oxidative stress and mitochondrial apoptotic pathway.