Assessing neuroprotective efficacy of phytochemical saponin ruscogenin in both in vitro and in vivo model

Parkinson disease (PD) is a multifactorial disease without aging, which is considered to be the main cause of PD apart from genetic, life-style, and environmental patterns. Phytochemicals play an immense role in treating various neurological diseases, and they possess immense antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In the current work, the neuroprotective effect of ruscogenin in an in vitro and in vivo mouse model was examined. The mouse microglial BV-2 cell line was stimulated with lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and used to assess the cytotoxicity, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities of ruscogenin. In the in vivo model, the PD was induced with MPTP and treated with 10 and 20 mg/kg of ruscogenin. The mice were then subjected to motor function analysis with the foot print test, grip strength test, and rota rod test. Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective activities of ruscogenin on PD-induced mice were assessed with biochemical analysis. To confirm the neuroprotective activity of ruscogenin, histopathological analysis of substantia nigra tissue was done. Our in vitro results confirm that ruscogenin did not disturb the viability of BV-2 cells. Ruscogenin decreased the oxidative stress and inflammatory marker levels in BV-2 cells. Ruscogenin treatment persuasively improved motor activities in PD-induced mice. The levels of inflammatory cytokines were considerably reduced by the ruscogenin treatment. Histopathological analysis revealed that ruscogenin has neuroprotective properties. In summary, ruscogenin is a potent neuroprotective agent that can be utilized to treat PD in the future. Furthermore, our study lacks the in-depth molecular analysis needed to understand the mode of action of ruscogenin on the PD, and hence we strongly recommend further molecular studies in the future.