Studies on the mechanism of Panax Ginseng in the treatment of deficiency of vital energy dementia rats based on urine metabolomics.

Panax Ginseng (PG) has been used to strengthen memory and physique for thousands of years, because its main components ginsenosides (GS) and ginseng polysaccharides (GP) play a major role, but its mechanism is not clear. In this study, a rat model of dementia with vital energy deficiency (DED) was established through intraperitoneal injection with D-galactose and AlCl3 and combined with exhaustive swimming. Pharmacological studies and the urine metabolomics based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) were employed for evaluation the efficacy of PG and exploring this treatment mechanism. Through urine metabolic profiling, it can be seen that DED rats after PG administration are close to normal group (NG) rats, and PG can regulate the in vivo status of DED rats which tend to NG. The results of behavioral, biochemical indicators and immunohistochemistry further verified the above results, and the mechanism of action of each component is refined. Ultimately, we believe that the mechanism of PG in the treatment of DED is that ginsenosides (GS) intervenes in phenylalanine tryptophan and tyrosine metabolism, stimulates dopamine production, inhibits Aß deposition and neuroinflammation; and that ginseng polysaccharides (GP) provides energy to strengthen the TCA cycle and improve immune capacity.

Effects of Dietary Taurine Supplementation on Blood and Urine Taurine Concentrations in the Elderly Women with Dementia.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of dietary taurine supplementation on blood and urine taurine concentrations of the elderly women with dementia. Subjects were 31 female elderly with dementia hospitalized in a geriatric hospital. They were divided randomly into control group and dietary taurine supplemented group. Basically, same meals were served to both groups. Scorched rice water without taurine were served to control group. Scorched rice water containing 3 g of taurine were reserved to taurine group with lunch similarly. Food ingredients containing high concentration of taurine were eliminated from the meal menu. Blood and urine samples were obtained from each subject at the beginning of study, after 2 week and 4 weeks in the morning fasting state. Taurine concentrations in serum and urine were measured as taurine-fluorescamine derivatives using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0. The average taurine concentrations in serum and urine of subjects were 89.2 ± 9.5 µM and 876.7 ± 97.1 µM at the beginning. After 4 weeks, the taurine concentrations in serum and urine of dietary taurine supplemented group were 218.0 ± 15.6 µM and 6502.6 ± 380.6 µM, which were significantly higher compared to control group. Dietary taurine supplemented group showed positive changes in the score on language and execute performance. So taurine supplementation can provide beneficial effects to the elderly and the elderly with dementia.

[Anti-dementia effect of Tongluo Xingnao effervescent tablet based on urinary metabonomics].

Tongluo Xingnao effervescent tablet (TLXNET) is a patented prescription, which comes from modified Xionggui decoction and can improve cognitive function. However, its effect on the urine metabolites and anti-dementia mechanism in the dementia model rats induced by hippocampal injection with Aß25-35 remains unclear. The experiment focused on the changes in trajectory and inter-relationship among the urinary metabolite of rats in the blank group, Aß25-35 hippocampal injection dementia model group and the TLXNET intervention group, in order to determine theirs characteristic metabolic markers and explain the anti-dementia effect of TLX-NET base on the change of metabolic trajectory of these bio-markers. According to the experimental results, 5, 6-indolequinone, 4-hydroxyphenyl pyruvic acid (4-HPPA), cortisol and 3-thiosulfate lactic were preliminarily identified as the characteristic metabolic markers. They mainly participate in dopamine system, glucocorticoids and energy metabolic pathways. TLXNET can apparently downregulate the disturbances of metabolic trajectory of the four bio-markers. The experiment indicates that the dementia model induced by injecting Aß25-3 into hippocampus has its characteristic endogenous metabolic markers in urine, and ELXNET can ameliorate dementia by down-regulating the disturbances of metabolic trajectory.

Improved cognitive-cerebral function in older adults with chromium supplementation.

Insulin resistance is implicated in the pathophysiological changes associated with Alzheimer's disease, and pharmaceutical treatments that overcome insulin resistance improve memory function in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early Alzheimer's disease. Chromium (Cr) supplementation improves glucose disposal in patients with insulin resistance and diabetes. We sought to assess whether supplementation with Cr might improve memory and neural function in older adults with cognitive decline. In a placebo-controlled, double-blind trial, we randomly assigned 26 older adults to receive either chromium picolinate (CrPic) or placebo for 12 weeks. Memory and depression were assessed prior to treatment initiation and during the final week of treatment. We also performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans on a subset of subjects. Although learning rate and retention were not enhanced by CrPic supplementation, we observed reduced semantic interference on learning, recall, and recognition memory tasks. In addition, fMRI indicated comparatively increased activation for the CrPic subjects in right thalamic, right temporal, right posterior parietal, and bifrontal regions. These findings suggest that supplementation with CrPic can enhance cognitive inhibitory control and cerebral function in older adults at risk for neurodegeneration.