Herbal Bilberry Protects the Nerve System against Neurotoxicity

By Kyle J. Norton


Neurotoxicity refers to the destruction of nerve tissue caused by toxins that have entered central and/or peripheral nervous system.

In other words, neurotoxicity is a result of any substance including a biological, chemical, or physical agent that causes an adverse effect on the nerve system.

Central nerve system comprised the brain and spinal cord is the complex of nerve tissues that control the activities of the body through the message transmitted by the neurons.

Most common causes of neurotoxicity are exposure to natural or man-made toxic substances, including drug, and medication. Long-term exposure to those toxins has been found to alter the activity of the nervous system.

Most common symptoms of neurotoxicity are a headache, altered sensation, tingling and numbness in the limbs.

In severe cases, neurotoxicity can induce vission loss, loss of memory and cognitive function and change behavior, psychological problems and sexual dysfunction.

Therefore, if you are taking medication and experience some of the aforementioned symptoms, please check with your doctor to rule out the possibility of a medication overdose.

Bilberry is a species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium, belonging to the family Ericaceae, native to Northern Europe.

The plant berry has been used as herbs in traditional medicine for the treatment of acute and chronic diarrhea, gastritis, gastric ulcer, and duodenal ulcer, enterocolitis, ulcerative colitis, anemia, cystitis, kidney disease, and psoriasis, diabetes, etc.

Researchers with an aim to discover a natural compound which protects the neurons damage induced neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) by a neurotoxic metabolite, 6-hydroxy DA, through increased expression of ROS examined the effects the antioxidant activities of anthocyanin-rich preparations of Vaccinium species (Vaccinium myrtillus, Vaccinium corymbosum, and Vaccinium oxycoccus).

V. myrtillus preparation: 50% inhibition with 7 microM of total anthocyanins were the most potent inhibition of oxidation and 1.5-4 times higher than that for the other preparations or for the purified anthocyanin.

According to the components analysis, antioxidant activity in the assay correlated strongly with the Vaccinium content of anthocyanins and total cyanidins, but not quercetin or myricetin.

Based in the findings, researchers wrote in the final report, "The results provide evidence for the high potency of anthocyanins towards a potentially neurotoxic reaction, and provide a basis for in vivo testing of these flavonoids and their physiological metabolites in the context of neuro- and mitochondrial-protective effects".

In order to reveal more information about bilberry anti neurotoxic activity, researchers once against evaluated the Vaccinium myrtillus (bilberry) anthocyanoside (VMA) and/or its main anthocyanidin constituents (cyanidin, delphinidin, and malvidin) protection of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) against neurotoxicity in the induction of retinal damage. 

The vitro study included RGC cultures (RGC-5, a rat ganglion cell-line transformed using E1A virus) and cell damage and radical activation induced by 3-(4-morpholinyl) sydnonimine hydrochloride (SIN-1, a peroxynitrite donor).

The vivo study included mice induced retinal damage by N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA)-

According to the assays, VMA and all three anthocyanidins significantly inhibited SIN-1-induced neurotoxicity and radical activation in RGC-5 in vitro and in mouse forebrain homogenates.
VMA inhibited lipid peroxidation in concentration-dependent manner.

Furthermore, intravitreously injected VMA significantly inhibited the NMDA-induced morphological retinal damage and increased TUNEL-positive cells in the ganglion cell layer.

Where terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) is a method for detecting DNA fragmentation of DNA breaks generated during apoptosis.

The results suggested VMA and its bioactive comapound anthocyanidins process neuroprotective effects in vitro and in vivo models of retinal diseases.

Taken altogether, bilberry processed abundantly bioactive compound anthocyanoside may be considered a function remedy for the prevention and treatment against neurotoxicity, pending to the validation of larger sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

References
(1) Protective activities of Vaccinium antioxidants with potential relevance to mitochondrial dysfunction and neurotoxicity by Yao Y1, Vieira A. (PubMed)
(2) Bilberry and its main constituents have neuroprotective effects against retinal neuronal damage in vitro and in vivo by Matsunaga N1, Imai S, Inokuchi Y, Shimazawa M, Yokota S, Araki Y, Hara H. (PubMed)