In the central nervous system, Asiaticoside has been shown to attenuate in vitro neuronal damage caused by exposure to β-amyloid. However, its potential neuroprotective properties in glutamate-induced excitotoxicity have not been fully studied. Researchers from Fourth Military Medical University of Chinese PLA, China reported that pretreatment with Asiaticoside decreased neuronal cell loss in a concentration-dependent manner and restored changes in expression of apoptotic-related proteins Bcl-2 and Bax. Asiaticoside pretreatment also attenuated the upregulation of NR2B expression, a subunit of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, but did not affect expression of NR2A subunits. Additionally, in cultured neurons, Asiaticoside significantly inhibited Ca2+ influx induced by N-methyl-D-aspartate. Their results provide a new insight into the neuroprotective effects of Asiaticoside. The relevant study has been published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 13, 2014).
Article: " Neuroprotective effects of Asiaticoside," by Feng-yan Qi1, Le Yang1, Zhen Tian1, Ming-gao Zhao1, Shui-bing Liu1, Jia-ze An2 (1 Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Military Medical University of Chinese PLA, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China; 2 Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University of Chinese PLA, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China)
Qi FY, Yang L, Tian Z, Zhao MG, Liu SB, An JZ. Neuroprotective effects of Asiaticoside. Neural Regen Res. 2014;9(13):1275-1282.