Neuroprotective Effects of Purple Sweet Potato Balinese Cultivar in Wistar Rats With Ischemic Stroke.

Purple sweet potato (Ipomoea Batatas L.) is one of the sources for anthocyanin, which promotes the health through antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, neuroprotection, and anti-apoptosis activities. Oxidative stress has been shown to be the cause of apoptosis in ischemic stroke.

The objective of this research was to delineate the pleiotropic effects of anthocyanin for neuroprotection during an acute stroke event.Anthocyanin was extracted from Balinese cultivar of purple sweet potato and subsequently administered to rat models of induced ischemic stroke (labelled as treatment group), as well as a placebo (labelled as a control group). Several parameters were in turn evaluated, i.e. the activities of anti-apoptotic (Bcl-2) as well as pro-apoptotic (cytochrome c, caspase-3) molecules, and apoptosis rate. Bcl-2 levels were determined using the histochemical method, cytochrome c and caspase-3 via ELISA method, while apoptosis rate was measured by TdT-medicated Dutp-Nick End Labeling (TUNEL) assay.Bcl-2 expression demonstrated significantly higher Bcl-2 expression in the treatment compared with control group (median 31.2 vs. 1.1; p = 0.001). Accordingly, pro-apoptotic cytochrome c and caspase-3 levels were also found significantly lower in the treatment as opposed to control group (mean 4.17 vs. 8.06; p = 0.001; mean 3.81 vs. 8.02; p = 0.001). Ultimately, apoptosis rate was found markedly lower among treatment than control groups (mean 3.81 vs. control 21.97; p = 0.003).The results of this study indicated a significant neuroprotective effect of anthocyanin derived from Balinese cultivar of PSP. Anthocyanin was able to increase and reduce anti-apoptotic and pro-apoptotic protein levels, respectively, resulting in lesser cellular apoptotic rate when compared with placebo. The potential mechanism was thought mainly due to its anti-oxidant properties.