Coompo Research Chemicals

Salidroside (Rhodioloside) is a glucoside of tyrosol found in the plant Rhodiola rosea. It is thought to be one of the compounds responsible for the antidepressant and anxiolytic actions of this plant, along with rosavin. Salidroside may be more active than rosavin, even though many commercially marketed Rhodiola rosea extracts are standardised for rosavin content rather than salidroside.

Stress is a key determinant of binge eating (BE). Since Rhodiola rosea is known to modulate stress responses, its effect in a model of BE was investigated. BE for highly palatable food (HPF) was evoked in female rats by three 8-day cycles of food restriction/re-feeding (for 4days 66% of the usual chow intake; for 4days food ad libitum) and acute stress on the test day (day 25). R. rosea dry extract (3% rosavin, 3.12% salidroside) or its active principles were given by gavage 1h before access to HPF. Only rats exposed to both food restrictions and stress exhibited BE in the first 15-60min after the stressful procedure. R. rosea extract 10mg/kg significantly reduced and 20mg/kg abolished the BE episode. R. rosea extract 20mg/kg abolished also stress-induced increase in serum corticosterone levels. The R. rosea active principle salidroside, but not rosavin, at doses present in the extract, dose-dependently reduced or abolished BE for the period in which it was elicited. In conclusion results indicate that R. rosea extracts may have therapeutic properties in bingeing-related eating disorders and that salidroside is the active principle responsible for this effect.

Oxidative stress plays an important role in Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Salidroside shows potent antioxidant property. Pretreatment with salidroside markedly attenuated H2O2-induced cell viability loss and apoptotic cell death in a dose-dependent manner. The mechanisms by which salidroside protected neuron cells from oxidative stress included the induction of several antioxidant enzymes, thioredoxin, heme oxygenase-1, and peroxiredoxin-I; the downregulation of pro-apoptotic gene Bax and the upregulation of anti-apoptotic genes Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL. Furthermore, salidroside dose-dependently restored H2O2-induced loss of mitochondrial membrane potential as well as the elevation of intracellular calcium level. These results suggest that salidroside has protective effects against oxidative stress-induced cell apoptosis, which might be a potential therapeutic agent for treating or preventing neurodegenerative diseases implicated with oxidative stress.