Lycium ruthenicum Murr. (LR) is a perennial shrub
commonly used as a nutritional food and medicine. Herein, we identified
12 anthocyanins from LR, with petunidin derivatives constituting approximately
97% of the total anthocyanin content. Furthermore, the potential mechanism
of anthocyanins exerting neuroprotective effects in d-galactose
(d-gal)-treated rats was explored. Behavioral results showed
that anthocyanins relieved d-gal-induced memory disorder.
Additionally, anthocyanins reduced receptor for advanced glycation
end products (RAGE) and suppressed oxidative stress caused by d-gal. Anthocyanins suppressed microgliosis and astrocytosis
and reduced the overexpression of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB),
interleukin-1-β (IL-1β), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and
tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Moreover, anthocyanins
lowered C-jun N-terminal kinase (p-JNK), caspase-3
levels, and the B-cell lymphoma 2-associated X protein/B-cell lymphoma
2 (Bax/Bcl-2) ratio. Thus, anthocyanins from LR attenuated memory
disfunction, neuroinflammation, and neurodegeneration caused by d-gal, possibly through the RAGE/NF-κB/JNK pathway, representing
a promising, safe candidate for prevention and therapy of neurodegenerative
diseases.