Abstract
Biatractylenolide, a sesquiterpene lactone, which exerted the neuroprotective effect against glutamate-induced excitotoxicity, was isolated from Atractylodis macrocephala in our previous study. In this study, we evaluated the neuroprotective effect of biatractylenolide against d-galactose-induced memory impairment and explored the potential mechanism of its action. The results showed that administration of biatractylenolide could significantly improve behavioral performance of d-galactose-treated mice in passive avoidance test and spatial learning-memory test. Administration of biatractylenolide could significantly decrease the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), decrease the activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), and increase the expression of synapsin I and protein kinase C (PKC) in d-galactose-treated mice. Our findings provide first evidence for the neuroprotective effect of biatractylenolide against d-galactose-induced memory impairment. The potential mechanisms underlying the neuroprotective effect of biatractylenolide in d-galactose-treated mice might be (i) attenuating oxidative damage via decreasing ROS formation, (ii) restoring cholinergic neurotransmission via decreasing AChE activity, and (iii) increasing the expression of memory-related proteins (synapsin I and PKC). Biatractylenolide may have therapeutic potential in aging-related memory impairment.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a grant from the Chinese National Foundation for Natural Sciences (Grant No. 30472073), and a grant from the Education Bureau of Liaoning Province (Grant No. L2011042).
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Ji, ZH., Liu, C., Zhao, H. et al. Neuroprotective Effect of Biatractylenolide Against Memory Impairment in d-Galactose-induced Aging Mice. J Mol Neurosci 55, 678–683 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-014-0407-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-014-0407-3