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BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies
Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 1/2023

Open Access 01-12-2023 | Alzheimer's Disease | Research

Liensinine and neferine exert neuroprotective effects via the autophagy pathway in transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans

Authors: Meng-chen Wu, Ye-hui Gao, Chen Zhang, Bo-tian Ma, Hong-ru Lin, Jin-yun Jiang, Meng-fan Xue, Shan Li, Hong-bing Wang

Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies | Issue 1/2023

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Abstract

Background

Liensinine and neferine are the main bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids obtained from the seeds of Nelumbo nucifera, which commonly used as edible food and traditional medicine in Asia. It was reported that liensinine and neferine could inhibit the activities of acetylcholinesterase and cross the blood-brain barriers, suggesting their therapeutic potential for the management of Alzheimer’s disease.

Methods

Here, we employed SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells stably transfected with the human Swedish amyloid precursor protein (APP) mutation APP695 (APP695swe SH-SY5Y) as an in vitro model and transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans as an in vivo model to investigate the neuroprotective effects and underlying mechanism of liensinine and neferine.

Results

We found that liensinine and neferine could significantly improve the viability and reduce ROS levels in APP695swe SH-SY5Y cells, inhibit β-amyloid and tau-induced toxicity, and enhance stress resistance in nematodes. Moreover, liensinine and neferine had obviously neuroprotective effects by assaying chemotaxis, 5-hydroxytryptamine sensitivity and the integrity of injured neurons in nematodes. Preliminary mechanism studies revealed that liensinine and neferine could upregulate the expression of autophagy related genes (lgg-1, unc-51, pha-4, atg-9 and ced-9) and reduce the accumulation of β-amyloid induced autophagosomes, which suggested autophagy pathway played a key role in neuroprotective effects of these two alkaloids.

Conclusions

Altogether, our findings provided a certain working foundation for the use of liensinine and neferine to treat Alzheimer’s disease based on neuroprotective effects.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Liensinine and neferine exert neuroprotective effects via the autophagy pathway in transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans
Authors
Meng-chen Wu
Ye-hui Gao
Chen Zhang
Bo-tian Ma
Hong-ru Lin
Jin-yun Jiang
Meng-fan Xue
Shan Li
Hong-bing Wang
Publication date
01-12-2023
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies / Issue 1/2023
Electronic ISSN: 2662-7671
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-023-04183-6

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