Influence of steroidal glycosides from Cynanchum auriculatum on antioxidant indicators in H2O2-damaged PC12 cells.

The root of Cynanchum auriculatum Royle ex Wight is a traditional Chinese medicine, which is rich in C21 steroidal glycosides by phytochemistry research. In this study, the antioxidant effect of 27 C21 steroidal glycosides isolated from the root of C. auriculatum by our group was evaluated using the H2O2-treated PC12 cells. As the result, all tested compounds altered the activities of lactate dehydrogenase, superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase at concentrations as low as 1 μM in H2O2-treated PC12 cells. They also decreased the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species and Ca2+. Further, the correlation between their structural features described by molecular descriptors and the indicators of bioactivity was analyzed by partial least squares analysis, displaying those six bio-indicators were positive correlated with 13 molecular descriptors and providing some guidance for further study of relationships between steroid structure and antioxidant activity.