ABSTRACT
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The fruit of Crataegus pinnatifida is a traditional medicine widely used as digestive drug in East Asia. Although Chinese herbal medicine used it for mental health, scientific evidence does not exist, yet. AIMS OF STUDY: The aim of this study is to show that the ethanol extract of the fruit of Crataegus pinnatifida (CPE) has neuroprotective effect on Alzheimer' disease model mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Intracerebroventricular injection of Aß was used to induce Alzheimer's disease-like pathology. Passive avoidance and Y-maze tasks were used to examine the effect of CPE on memory impairments by Aß. Immunohistochemistry was used to examine the effect of CPE on glial activation. ThT assay was used to observe the effect of CPE on Aß aggregation. MTT and LDH release assays were utilized to examine effects of CPE on Aß-induced cytotoxicity. RESULTS: CPE prevented memory deficit in Aß-induced memory impairment model. Moreover, CPE prevented glial activation in the hippocampus of Aß-injected model. In in vitro test, CPE inhibited Aß fibril formation in a concentration-dependent manner. CPE also caused disaggregation of Aß fibrils. Along with this, CPE blocked neuronal cell death induced by Aß. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, these experimental findings demonstrated that CPE could be a candidate for development of AD therapy.
Subject(s)
Alzheimer Disease/drug therapy , Crataegus , Neuroprotective Agents/therapeutic use , Plant Extracts/therapeutic use , Amyloid beta-Peptides/metabolism , Animals , Astrocytes/drug effects , Cell Death/drug effects , Cell Line, Tumor , Disease Models, Animal , Fruit , Hippocampus/drug effects , Male , Mice, Inbred ICR , Microglia/drug effects , Neurons/drug effectsABSTRACT
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Aubang Gahl Soo (AGS) is a Korean traditional drink manufactured from medicinal plants and fruits using sugar or honey. Although traditional old book stated its effects on body, there is no scientific evidence yet. Therefore, in the present study, we tested AGS on brain functions. AIM OF THIS STUDY: In this study, we tried to uncover the effect of on brain functions. To do this we examined the action of AGS on the hippocampal synaptic function and memory in mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To examine the effect of AGS on synaptic plasticity, we observed input-output curves (I/O curve), paired-pulse facilitation (PPF), and long-term potentiation (LTP) using mouse hippocampal slices. Moreover, to investigate the functional relevance of the effect of AGS on synaptic plasticity, we conducted passive avoidance, Y-maze and Morris water maze tests. To examine relevant mechanism, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and acetylcholine (ACh) level assay were also conducted. RESULTS: In the basal synaptic transmission study, we found that AGS did not affect I/O curves and PPF. However, AGS facilitated hippocampal LTP in a concentration-dependent manner. Moreover, AGS blocked AChE activity (IC50 = 485⯵g/ml). Moreover, ACh level was increased by AGS (100⯵g/ml) treatment. Along with this, facilitating effect of AGS on hippocampal LTP also blocked by scopolamine, a muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist. Moreover, AGS also ameliorated memory impairments induced by scopolamine in passive avoidance, Y-maze, and Morris water maze tests. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that AGS facilitates hippocampal LTP through activating cholinergic system and ameliorates cholinergic dysfunction-induced memory deficit.