Metabolic Fingerprinting of Different Sideritis Taxa Infusions and Their Neurogenic Activity.

Over the last years, extracts were shown to improve memory. However, their potential to promote the generation of new neurons, starting with the neuronal differentiation of neural stem cells, remains unexplored. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the neurogenic effects of different infusions in neural stem and precursor cells and their impact on cell viability. Moreover, the metabolic fingerprints were recorded using LC-DAD, LC-HRESIMS, and GC-MS. The neurogenic potential of infusions of the eight taxa tested was as potent as the classical neuronal inducer combination of retinoic acid and valproic acid. Further cytotoxicity assays revealed that the IC values of the extracts were between 163 and 322 µg/mL. Hierarchical cluster analyses of the metabolic fingerprints unveiled that the two taxa with the lowest IC values were the most divergent in the analytical techniques used. As the analysis focused on polyphenols, it is reasonable to assume that these compounds are responsible for the effect on the cell viability of SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. This study is the first report on the neurogenic potential of taxa and might support the use of herbal preparations in the context of neurodegenerative diseases.