Botanical Polyphenols Mitigate Microglial Activation and Microglia-Induced Neurotoxicity: Role of Cytosolic Phospholipase A 2

Microglia play a significant role in the generation and propagation of oxidative/nitrosative stress, and are the basis of neuroinflammatory responses in the central nervous system. Upon stimulation by endotoxins such as lipopolysaccharides (LPS), these cells release pro-inflammatory factors which can exert harmful effects on surrounding neurons, leading to secondary neuronal damage and cell death. Our previous studies demonstrated the effects of botanical polyphenols to mitigate inflammatory responses induced by LPS, and highlighted an important role for cytosolic phospholipase A 2 (cPLA 2 ) upstream of the pro-inflammatory pathways (Chuang et al. in J Neuroinflammation 12(1):199, 2015 . doi: 10.1186/s12974-015-0419-0 ). In this study, we investigate the action of botanical compounds and assess whether suppression of cPLA 2 in microglia is involved in the neurotoxic effects on neurons. Differentiated SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells were used to test the neurotoxicity of conditioned medium from stimulated microglial cells, and WST-1 assay was used to assess for the cell viability of SH-SY5Y cells. Botanicals such as quercetin and honokiol (but not cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, 3CG) were effective in inhibiting LPS-induced nitric oxide (NO) production and phosphorylation of cPLA 2 . Conditioned medium from BV-2 cells stimulated with LPS or IFNγ caused neurotoxicity to SH-SY5Y cells. Decrease in cell viability could be ameliorated by pharmacological inhibitors for cPLA 2 as well as by down-regulating cPLA 2 with siRNA. Botanicals effective in inhibition of LPS-induced NO and cPLA 2 phosphorylation were also effective in ameliorating microglial-induced neurotoxicity. Results demonstrated cytotoxic factors from activated microglial cells to cause damaging effects to neurons and potential use of botanical polyphenols to ameliorate the neurotoxic effects.