dl-3-n-Butylphthalide attenuation of methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells.

AIMS: Methamphetamine (Meth) abuse causes neural injury in the brain. There are no efficacious therapies available to treat Meth-induce neural injury. The present study intended to test the therapeutic potential of dl-3-n-butylphthalide (NBP), a chemical compound extracted originally from the seeds of Chinese Celery, in the amelioration and prevention of Meth-induced neural injury.

MAIN METHODS: Experiments were carried out on SH-SY5Y cells. Neuronal injury and apoptotic cell death were detected by MTT assay and analysis of nuclear morphology. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) was evaluated by dichloro-dihydro-fluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) assay and protein expression levels of the apoptosis-related cleaved caspase-3, bcl2 and Bax were determined by western blotting.

KEY FINDINGS: Treatment of SH-SY5Y cells with Meth induced cell injury and apoptosis. NBP attenuated Meth-associated cell injury and apoptosis via blockage of Meth-mediated upregulation of intracellular ROS production and inhibition of Meth-induced decrease of cleaved caspase-3/caspase-3 and Bcl-2/Bax ratios.

SIGNIFICANCE: The results presented in this study indicate that NBP may have therapeutic benefits in the treatment of Meth-induced neuronal injury in the central nervous system.