Evaluation of Boerhavia diffusa for neuroprotection, cytotoxicity and monoamine oxidase inhibition in SH-SY5Y cells and a Zebrafish model

The dataset supports research of a proprietary methanolic Boerhavia diffusa crude extract, examined for its inherent cytotoxicity and neuroprotection against 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced damage in neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line, assessed using the sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. Antioxidant activity was determined using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibition was assessed using the Amplex Red™ monoamine oxidase assay kit. Assessment of zebrafish viability and developmental outcomes following exposure to BD and co-treatment with 6-OHDA was determined using zebrafish larvae of < 5 days post fertilisation (dpf) by monitoring basal motor activity and determination of protein expression levels of the neurodegeneration markers, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and neuro-dopamine-1 (neuroD1).

Data was analysed using Graphpad Prism 8.02 (San Diego, CA). Outliers were identified and excluded using the ROUT (Q=1%) method. At least three technical and experimental replicates were used (n ≥ 9). Groups were compared using analysis of variance (ANOVA), and the Kruskal Wallis ANOVA with Dunn’s multiple comparisons test for non-parametric data. The indicator of significance was p < 0.05. Inhibition data was confirmed using the Michaelis Menten kinetics, and to further assess empirical data, confirmation was done by the Lineweaver-burk plot. Zebrafish analyses included analysis for normalcy of distribution using the Shapiro-Wilks test, before groups were compared using ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc testing for parametric data, or the Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA with Dunn’s multiple comparisons test for non-parametric data. Biological replicates of a minimum of n = 12 was employed for each treatment condition.