{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.052726183343319355, 'fraction_numerical': 0.029958058717795086, 'mean_word_length': 6.389380530973451, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Neuroprotective effects of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) and macamides against amyloid‐beta (25‐35) induced toxicity in B‐35 neuroblastoma cells (657.13)

Production and deposition of Amyloid‐beta (Aβ) peptide is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. The Maca plant (Lepidium meyenii) has been used as a traditional medicine to treat several diseases. It contains macamides, compounds which are structurally similar to the endocannabinoids which have neuroprotective effects. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the neuroprotective effects of a Maca pentane extract (5‐50 µg/mL) and some of the component macamides: N‐benzylpalmitamide, N‐benzyloleamide and N‐(3‐methoxybenzyl)palmitamide (1‐30 µM) on the B‐35 neuroblastoma cell line. B‐35 cells were pre‐treated with extract or macamides and subsequently exposed to a neurotoxic concentration (10 µM) of Aβ (25‐35). A cell viability assay utilizing 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐5‐(3‐carboxymethoxyphenyl)‐2‐(4‐sulfophenyl)‐2H‐tetrazolium (MTS) was performed to evaluate the neuroprotective effects. The results demonstrated that the Maca extract and N‐(3‐methoxybenzyl)palmitamide counteracted the toxicity produced by Aβ (25‐35), demonstrating significant increases in cell viability (34% and 21% respectively). Furthermore, when the tested compounds were evaluated for antioxidant activity and their effects on caspase 3, neither the Maca extract nor N‐(3‐methoxybenzyl)palmitamide demonstrated an antioxidant effect or caspase 3 inhibition. These results suggest that the Maca extract and macamides may produce neuroprotective effects against Aβ by mechanisms other than caspase 3 inhibition or an antioxidant effect.