Abstract
In the present study, we examined the effect of buckwheat polyphenols (BWP) on cell death induced by glutamate and kainate in primary cultures of hippocampal neurons by assay of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) released out of cells. BWP (100 μg/mL) could significantly prevent cell death induced by 100 μM, but not that induced by 300 μM of glutamate, whereas MK-801, a N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, remarkably inhibited cell death induced by either concentration of glutamate. BWP (100 μg/ml) and 2,3-dihydroxy-6-nitro-7-sulfamoyl-benzo(F)quinoxaline (NBQX), an α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid (AMPA) receptor antagonist, showed a protective effect on cell death induced by kainate (1 and 3 mM). These results suggest that BWP exhibits the neuroprotective action by inhibiting the AMPA receptor activity.
