Baicalin, a flavonoid isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis, has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and neuroprotective effects. Glutamate is a major neurotransmitter that plays an important role in brain function, but excessive release of glutamate causes excitotoxicity and damages cells. We investigated the neuroprotective effects of baicalin in glutamate-exposed neurons. The mouse hippocampal neuronal cell line (HT22) was cultured in a general manner, glutamate and/or baicalin were treated on the cells. Baicalin was administered 1 hr before glutamate treatment. Cells were collected 24 hr after glutamate, and cell viability was measured using MTT assay. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid peroxidation (LPO) assays were performed to measure oxidative stress. Glutamate reduced cell viability in a dose- and time-dependent manner. MTT assay showed that baicalin treatment ameliorated the decrease in cell viability due to glutamate toxicity. The effect of baicalin is dose-dependent. Glutamate caused severe nerve damage, including condensation of the cell shape, loss of dendrites and axons. However, baicalin treatment attenuated these morphological changes, and the effect of baicalin was dose-dependent. ROS and LPO analyses showed that glutamate increases oxidative stress, and baicalin attenuates this change due to glutamate toxicity. The effect of baicalin on these results was dose-dependent. We confirmed that baicalin performs an antioxidant function against glutamate toxicity in neurons. In conclusion, these results suggest that baicalin exerts neuroprotective effects on damaged neurons through antioxidant activity.

Abstract
서 론
재료 및 방법
    세포 배양 및 약물 처리(Cell culture and drug treatment)
    세포 생존율 측정(Measurements of of cell viability)
    활성 산소종 분석(Reactive oxygen species assay)
    지질 과산화 분석(Lipid peroxidation assay)
    통계 분석
결 과
    신경세포에서 글루타메이트 처리에 의한 세포 생존율의감소
    글루타메이트에 의한 세포 손상시 바이칼린의 신경세포보호효과
    글루타메이트에 노출된 신경세포에서 바이칼린의 항산화효과
고 찰
감사의 글
REFERENCES

• Hyun-Kyoung Son(Department of Veterinary Anatomy and Histology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Research Institute of Life Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 660-701, Korea)
• Phil-Ok Koh(Department of Veterinary Anatomy and Histology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Research Institute of Life Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 660-701, Korea) Corresponding author