Melamine Exacerbates Neurotoxicity in D-Galactose-Induced Neuronal SH-SY5Y Cells

Juhi Goyal; Preet Jain; Vivek Jain; Dibyajyoti Banerjee; Rajasri Bhattacharyya; Sharmistha Dey; Rambabu Sharma; Nitish Rai

doi:10.1155/2023/6635370

Melamine Exacerbates Neurotoxicity in D-Galactose-Induced Neuronal SH-SY5Y Cells

J Aging Res. 2023 Nov 23:2023:6635370. doi: 10.1155/2023/6635370. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Juhi Goyal¹, Preet Jain¹, Vivek Jain², Dibyajyoti Banerjee³, Rajasri Bhattacharyya³, Sharmistha Dey⁴, Rambabu Sharma⁵, Nitish Rai¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biotechnology, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, India.
² Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India.
³ Department of Experimental Medicine and Biotechnology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India.
⁴ Department of Biophysics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India.
⁵ Department of Microbiology, Pacific Institute of Medical Sciences, Udaipur, India.

Abstract

Numerous studies have depicted the role of diet and environmental toxins in aging. Melamine (Mel) is a globally known notorious food adulterant, and its toxicity has been shown in several organs including the brain. However, till now, there are no reports regarding Mel neurotoxicity in aging neurons. So, this study examined the in vitro neurotoxicity caused by Mel in the D-galactose (DG)-induced aging model of neuronal SH-SY5Y cells. In the present study, the neuronal SH-SY5Y cells were treated with DG and Mel separately and in combination to assess the neurotoxicity potential using MTT assay and neurite length measurement. Further, the superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and total antioxidant activities were evaluated followed by the determination of the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and caspase3 (Casp3) activity. The cotreatment of Mel and DG in neuronal SH-SY5Y cells showed maximum cell death than the cells treated with DG or Mel individually and untreated control cells. The neurite length shrinkage and ROS production were maximum in the DG and Mel cotreated cells showing exacerbated toxicity of Mel. The activity of SOD, CAT, and total antioxidants was also found to be lowered in the cotreatment group (Mel + DG) than in Mel- or DG-treated and untreated cells. Further, the combined toxicity of Mel and DG also elevated the Casp3 activity more than any other group. This is the first study showing the increased neurotoxic potential of Mel in an aging model of neuronal SH-SY5Y cells which implicates that Mel consumption by the elderly may lead to increased incidences of neurodegeneration like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.