Neuroprotective effects of the aerial parts of <em>Polygala&nbsp;tenuifolia</em> Willd extract on scopolamine‑induced learning and memory impairments in mice

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is a common neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive cognitive dysfunction and behavioral impairment. Aerial parts of Polygala tenuifolia Willd (APT) is a traditional Chinese medicine used for the treatment of amnesia. The present study aimed to investigate the protective effects of APT on scopolamine-induced learning and memory impairments in mice. Scopolamine-induced mice were used to determine the effects of APT on learning and memory impairment. Mice were orally administered with APT (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg) and piracetam (750 mg/kg) for 14 days, and intraperitoneally injected with scopolamine (2 mg/kg) from days 8 to 14. Morris water maze and step-down tests were performed to evaluate learning and memory. Levels of acetylcholine (ACh), choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), acetylcholinesterase (AChE), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-10 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus and frontal cortex were measured by ELISA. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) were measured via biochemical detection. The results demonstrated that APT ameliorated learning and memory impairment in scopolamine-induced mice. Correspondingly, APT significantly increased ACh and ChAT levels in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of scopolamine-induced mice. Additionally, treatment with APT significantly increased BDNF and IL-10 levels, and decreased IL-1β and AChE levels in the same mice. Furthermore, APT significantly increased SOD activity and GSH content, and decreased MDA levels in brain tissue. These results indicated that APT may ameliorate learning and memory impairment by regulating cholinergic activity, promoting BDNF and inhibiting neuroinflammation and oxidative stress.

Phytochemical Analysis, In Vitro Anticholinesterase, Antioxidant Activity and In Vivo Nootropic Effect of Ferula ammoniacum (Dorema ammoniacum) D. Don. in Scopolamine-Induced Memory Impairment in Mice

“…High AChE and BChE activities were observed in the frontal cortex and hippocampus tissues of the diseased control group (measured from supernatant part of homogenized brain tissues at a standardized protein content of 5 mg/mL). In standard control group (Donepezil) and test control ( F. ammoniacum extract) group a significant decline in both AChE and BChE activities ( Figure 6 ; Figure 7 ), and DPPH free radical scavenging activity ( Figure 8 ) in the cortex and hippocampus, respectively, were observed which were also in line with previous reported studies [ 36 , 52 ]. The pre-treatment with Fa.EtAc significantly increased the learning and memory in rodent’s model.…”

“…Scopolamine induces oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in the brain tissue which can cause chronic activation of microglia that disrupt synaptic plasticity and finally neuronal death. The ROS directly damage the neuron by increasing intracellular Ca 2+ level, while inflammatory cytokines are produced due to the activation of microglia that inhibit the production of BDNF and decrease the level of ACh [ 52 ].…”

“…The pre-treatment with Fa.EtAc significantly increased the learning and memory in rodent’s model. Reported studies also revealed that some plant extract significantly reversed the memory loss in mice model justifying its neuroprotective potential [ 36 , 52 ]. In the current study of NORT, the increase in the percent DI and exploration time with novel object compared to familiar object in mice treated with Fa.EtAc suggested improvement in learning and memory which is in agreement with the reported study [ 53 ].…”

Aconiti lateralis Radix Praeparata inhibits Alzheimer’s disease by regulating the complex regulation network with the core of GRIN1 and MAPK1

“…Another notable point is that different AD relevant compounds of Fuzi have been found by TCMSP database (Ru et al 2014) and BATMAN-TCM database (Liu et al 2016), which plays a different role in AD regulation. Previous research on motor nerve terminal suggests that mescaline and coryneine could regulate ACh releases (Ghansah et al 1993;Kimura et al 1995;Nojima et al 2000), which play a key role in AD by influencing synaptic loss and signal transform (Mangialasche et al 2010;Ren et al 2020;Wang et al 2020;Zhu et al 2020). Deoxyandrographolide activates PI3K/AKT pathways (Zhao et al 2019), which are responsible for Alzheimer's treatment by regulating the oxidative stress (Ali et al 2018).…”

Traditional Chinese Medicine Intervenes in Vascular Dementia: Traditional Medicine Brings New Expectations

“…The Yuan-Zhi Decoction (YZD) is from the “Yixin Prescription.” It is mainly used to treat stroke, restlessness, convulsions, speech errors, trance, confusion, and tinnitus ( Liu et al, 2020b ). YZD also upregulates ChAT expression in the cholinergic neural circuit of VD mice, which improves learning and memory ( Wang et al, 2020c ). In brief, a variety of TCM prescriptions can improve the cognitive function of VD patients by regulating the function of the central cholinergic system.…”