中国科学院过程工程研究所机构知识库

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease featured by memory loss, neuroinflammation and oxidative stress. Overproduction or insufficient clearance of A beta leads to its pathological aggregation and deposition, which is considered the predominant neuropathological hallmark of AD. Therefore, reducing A beta levels and inhibiting A beta-induced neurotoxicity are feasible therapeutic strategies for AD treatment. Wolfberry has been traditionally used as a natural antioxidant and anti-aging product. However, whether wolfberry species has therapeutic potential on AD remains unknown. Method: The effects of fruitless wolfberry-sprout extract (FWE) on A beta fibrillation and fibril disaggregation was measured by thioflavin T fluorescence and transmission electron microscope imaging; A beta oligomer level was determined by dot-blot; Cell viability and apoptosis was assessed by MTT and TUNEL assay. The levels of A beta 40/42, oxidative stress biomarkers and inflammatory cytokines were detected by corresponding kits. 8-month-old male APP/PSI mice and their age-matched WT littermates were treated with FWE or vehicle by oral administration (gavage) once a day for 4 weeks. Then the cognitive performance was determined using object recognition test and Y-maze test. The A beta burden and gliosis was evaluated by immunostaining and immunoblotting, respectively. Results: FWE significantly inhibited A beta fibrillation and disaggregated the formed A beta fibrils, lowered A beta oligomer level and A beta-induced neuro-cytotoxicity, and attenuated oxidative stress in vitro. Oral administration of FWE remarkably improved cognitive function, reduced A beta burden, decreased gliosis and inflammatory cytokines release, and ameliorated oxidative stress in the brains of APP/PS1 mice. Conclusion: These findings indicate that FWE is a promising natural agent for AD treatment.

This work was supported by the grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81402837 and 31401158), the National Science and Technology Major Projects of New Drugs (2014ZX09102045-006), Open Funding Project of the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering (2015KF-02) and the Ministry of education Chunhui project.