Mulberry, which contained high amounts of anthocyanins, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine. Mulberry fruit extracts (ME) have demonstrated the antioxidant activity and neuroprotection. The study was to investigate the neuroprotective efficacy of ME against β-amyloid 25–35- (Aβ 25–35-) induced PC12 cells injury. Cells preincubated with or without ME (200 μg/mL) for 24 h were treated with Aβ 25–35 (20 μmol/L) for another 24 h. Cell viability was assessed by MTT, gene expression profiles were examined by cDNA microarrays, and RT-PCR were used to confirm the results of microarray assays. ME pretreatment was found to neutralize the cytotoxicity and prevent Aβ 25–35-induced cells injury. Analyses of gene expression profile revealed that genes involving cell adhesion, peptidase activity, cytokine activity, ion binding activity, and angiogenesis regulation were significantly modulated by ME pretreatment. Among those genes, Apaf1, Bace2, and Plcb4 were enriched in the “Alzheimer's disease-reference pathway” and downregulated after ME intervention. RT-PCR results showed that ME preincubation could significantly inhibit Aβ 25–35 increased mRNA levels of these three genes. Overall, ME pretreatment could substantially alleviate PC12 cells injury and downregulate expression of AD-related genes, such as Apaf1, Bace2, and Plcb4. This study has a great nutrigenomics interest and brings new and important light in the field of AD intervention.

BB treatment was beneficial for the improvement of learning and memory of AD, and these effects might be related to the regulation of BDNF.

Apolipoprotein E type 4 allele (ApoE∊4) is known as a risk gene for the late-onset Alzheimer's disease, and the relationship between ApoE∊4 and cognitive function of the elderly people has drawn the attention of the scientists. In this study, we investigated the relationship between ApoE∊4 and the cognitive function of the old people. A total of 156 old people were investigated, of whom 31 were ApoE∊4 carriers. The ApoE∊4 primarily influenced the global cognitive function, perceptual speed, and work memory. The results indicate that ApoE∊4 has significant negative effect on the cognitive function of the elderly people who are 60 years and older.

Objectives An intervention study was performed to determine if supplement containing blueberry extracts could improve cognitive function in the elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods Forty six MCI patients participated in the intervention study were paired based on their age, education level and initial the basic cognitive aptitude test (BCAT) scores and then randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 23, which received 1.0 g/day of blueberry extracts) or blank control group (n = 23) . The endpoint was the improvement in cognitive function as evaluated by BCATs. All parameters were measured before and after the treatment period of 12 weeks. Results After 12 weeks of intervention, we observed significant improvement in their total BCAT score, space imagery efficiency, working memory and recognition memory of subjects in patients with blueberry extracts supplementation comparing to those in the control group (P = 0.006, 0.023, 0.000, 0.005, respectively). However the levels of inflammatory factors (IL-6 and TNF-α in serum) showed no significant changes after intervention. Conclusions The data indicated that blueberry has a beneficial effect on cognitive function of the elderly MCI patients, which might provide therapeutic potential for Alzheimer's disease. Funding Sources This work was supported by the State Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China and the State Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin. Supporting Tables, Images and/or Graphs