Abstract
Andrographis paniculata has been an important plant for traditional medicine in Asia for centuries. Andrographolide is the primary bioactive phytochemical from the plant and is known to exhibit many different protective effects through modulation of various proteins and signaling pathways. Andrographolide has been reported to exert anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects as well as being an antioxidant itself. We therefore studied whether andrographolide could provide protective effects to the SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell model for Parkinson's disease. In this study, we observed andrographolide inhibiting activation of NF-κB p65 (nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells) and JNK MAPK (c-Jun N-terminal Kinase Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase) pathways, however, it did not provide any protective effect against induced stress in the SH-SY5Y cells. We propose the sustained low-level activation of JNK and the inhibition of NF-κB promoted ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species) production that yielded the observed cell death. Therefore, the protective effects observed with andrographolide appear to be cell/tissue specific responses.