Abstract
Portulaca oleraceae (purslane), a member of the Portulacaceae family, is widespread as a weed and has been ranked the eighth most common plant in the world. In order to evaluate purslane herbal aqueous juice as a neuroprotective agent, we assessed the anti-apoptotic and antioxidant effects of purslane (1.5 ml/kg bwt) on rotenone (12 mg/kg bwt) induced brain injury in rats. Our results showed that purslane significantly decreased the number of apoptotic cells in the striatum. Immunohistochemical detection of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappa B) and B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) showed that after purslane treatment there was an increase in cells stained positively for Bcl-2 and a decrease in the cells stained positively for NF-kappa B indicating the anti-apoptotic effect of purslane due its antioxidant activity. The elevation in reactive oxygen species, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, nitrite/nitrate and lactate dehydrogenase were all reduced with purslane treatment. Furthermore, PCR results for iNOS and caspase-3 genes showed down-regulation in purslane treated groups. Overall, our study emphasizes the pro-survival role of purslane in the midbrain and striatum and proposes its prophylactic potential against developing brain damage and neurodegenerative diseases associated with oxidative stress. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.