Korean Journal of Agricultural Science ISSN:2466-2402(Print) 2466-2410(Online) 농업과학연구

In this study, we investigated the protective effects of ‘Donganme’ (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) against oxidative stress under in vitro conditions and in a cellular system using C6 glial cells. The radical scavenging activities were observed using the substrates 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydroxyl (•OH) radicals. The Donganme extract had an •OH radical scavenging activity of 82.66% at a concentration of 100 μg·mL-1. Additionally, when DPPH was used as the substrate, the Donganme extract exhibited a strong radical scavenging activity in a concentration-dependent manner with an IC50 value of 28.56 μg·mL-1. Furthermore, treating C6 glial cells with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) reduced the cell viability and generated reactive of oxygen species (ROS) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) compared to the normal levels, indicating that H2O2 induced oxidative stress. However, Donganme extracts increased the cell viability and inhibited ROS and LDH production against oxidative stress by H2O2 in the C6 glial cells. In particular, it showed effective cell protection with the cell viability, ROS production, and LDH release at 83.50, 88.06, and 14.87%, respectively, which were lower than the control or similar to the normal levels even at a low concentration of 100 μg·mL-1. The present study suggests that the Donganme extract was effective in protecting against oxidative stress in C6 glial cells through its antioxidant activity. Thus, Donganme could be a promising therapeutic agent for neurodegenerative diseases due to oxidative stress.