Hypoxia has been reported to cause hippocampal neurodegeneration resulting in learning and memory deficits. In the present study, we investigated the potential of salidroside, a glucoside derivative of tyrosol, in ameliorating hypoxia-induced neurodegeneration and memory impairment. Morris water maze test showed improvement in learning and spatial memory of salidroside-treated hypoxic rats correlating with increased dendritic intersections and arborization. Salidroside administration increased phosphorylation of insulin receptor subunit A (IRA) at Y972, Y1162/63, and Y1146 sites and subsequent activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) a subunit isoforms pAMPKa1 and pAMPKa2 resulting in mitochondrial biogenesis. Contrarily, silencing of IRA in salidroside-supplemented hypoxic hippocampal cells could not improve cell viability or alter pAMPKa1 and pAMPKa2 expression. Rats administered with salidroside showed elevated expression of phosphorylated cAMP response elementbinding protein in the hippocampus. Salidroside administration also resulted in increased sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) activity through a cytochrome P4502E1 (CYP2E1)-regulated mechanism that was independent of pIRA. Taken together, these findings suggest a synergistic role of pIRA and SIRT1 in salidrosidemediated neuroprotection, mitochondrial biogenesis, and cognitive improvement during hypoxia.
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