Composition, antioxidant activity, and neuroprotective effects of anthocyanin-rich extract from purple highland barley bran and its promotion on autophagy

Anthocyanin-rich purple highland barley has attracted great attention recently due to its health benefits in humans. The composition of the purified anthocyanin extract (PAE) from purple highland barley bran (PHBB) was characterized by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) with a high acylated anthocyanin profile. PAE exhibited high antioxidant activity and potential neuroprotective effects on cobalt chloride (CoCl2)-induced hypoxic damage in PC12 cells by maintaining cell viability, restoring cell morphology, inhibiting lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage, reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, enhancing antioxidant enzyme activities, inhibiting cell apoptosis, and attenuating cell cycle arrest. Treatment cells (PC12 and U2OS) with PAE activated autophagy, indicating that autophagy possibly acted as a survival mechanism against CoCl2-induced injury. This study demonstrated that PAE from the PHBB was a high-quality natural functional food colorant and potentially could be used as a preventive agent for brain dysfunction caused by hypoxic damage.