Administration of 4-(α-L-Rhamnosyloxy)‎-benzyl Isothiocyanate Delays Disease Phenotype in SOD1G93A Rats: A Transgenic Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Abstract EN

4-(α-L-Rhamnosyloxy)-benzyl glucosinolate (glucomoringin, GMG) is a compound found in Moringa oleifera seeds.

Myrosinase-catalyzed hydrolysis at neutral pH of GMG releases the biologically active compound 4-(α-L-rhamnosyloxy)-benzyl isothiocyanate (GMG-ITC).

The present study was designed to test the potential therapeutic effectiveness of GMG-ITC to counteract the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using SOD1tg rats, which physiologically develops SOD1G93A at about 16 weeks of life, and can be considered a genetic model of disease.

Rats were treated once a day with GMG (10 mg/Kg) bioactivated with myrosinase (20 µL/rat) via intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection for two weeks before disease onset and the treatment was prolonged for further two weeks before the sacrifice.

Immune-inflammatory markers as well as apoptotic pathway were investigated to establish whether GMG-ITC could represent a new promising tool in clinical practice to prevent ALS.

Achieved data display clear differences in molecular and biological profiles between treated and untreated SOD1tg rats leading to guessing that GMG-ITC can interfere with the pathophysiological mechanisms at the basis of ALS development.

Therefore, GMG-ITC produced from myrosinase-catalyzed hydrolysis of pure GMG could be a candidate for further studies aimed to assess its possible use in clinical practice for the prevention or to slow down this disease.