Ameliorative effect of betulin from Betula platyphylla bark on scopolamine-induced amnesic mice

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease induced by cholinergic neuron damage or amyloid-beta aggregation in the basal forebrain region and resulting in cognitive disorder. We previously reported on the neuroprotective effects of Betula platyphylla bark (BPB) in an amyloid-beta-induced amnesic mouse model. In this study, we obtained a cognitive-enhancing compound by assessing results using a scopolamine-induced amnesic mouse model. Our results show that oral treatment of mice with BPB and betulin significantly ameliorated scopolamine-induced memory deficits in both passive avoidance and Y-maze tests. In the Morris water maze test, administration of BPB and betulin significantly improved memory and cognitive function indicating the formation of working and reference memories in treated mice. Moreover, betulin significantly increased glutathione content in mouse hippocampus, and the increase was greater than that from betulinic acid treatment. We conclude that BPB and its active component betulin have potential as therapeutic, cognitive enhancer in AD.

Betulin Inhibits Lung Metastasis by Inducing Cell Cycle Arrest, Autophagy, and Apoptosis of Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Cells

“…Pharmacokinetic research in rats has showed that daily intraperitoneal administration of 60 mg/kg of betulin for 28 days does not result in toxicity [37]. Oral administration of 5 and 10 mg/kg betulin improved the scopolamine-induced amnesia in mouse models, and intraperitoneal administration of betulin (10 and 20 mg/kg) improved autoimmune hepatitis in mice [11,38]. Additionally, betulin administration (10 mg/kg) significantly decreased lung metastasis of CT26 cells.…”

Betulin Protects HT-22 Hippocampal Cells against ER Stress through Induction of Heme Oxygenase-1 and Inhibition of ROS Production

“…Betulin and its derivatives have been widely used in traditional herbal medicine against various inflammatory diseases and ischemia. 14,15 Betulin is cytoprotective, and its anti-inflammatory actions are based on radical quenching and antioxidative effects. 14,15 Thus, betulin could serve as a potential therapeutic candidate for brain disorders.…”

“…14,15 Betulin is cytoprotective, and its anti-inflammatory actions are based on radical quenching and antioxidative effects. 14,15 Thus, betulin could serve as a potential therapeutic candidate for brain disorders. However, no study has yet reported the biological mechanism of betulin in ER stress-injured HT-22 in vitro models.…”

Flavonoids and Diarylheptanoids: Neuroprotective Activities of Phytochemicals

“…Investigations into specific activity of these molecules on Alzheimer's disease models were conducted in order to assess disease-specific potential of compounds [1,8,23]. Nobiletin from citrus was tested at a 30mg/kg dose over three months in a triple transgenic mouse model and was found to reverse the short-term memory and recognition task performance by reducing reactive oxygen species in the hippocampus [1].…”