The claimed beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet include prevention of several age-related dysfunctions including neurodegenerative diseases and Alzheimer-like pathology. These effects have been related to the protection against cognitive decline associated with aging and disease by a number of polyphenols found in red wine and extra virgin olive oil. The double transgenic TgCRND8 mice (overexpressing the Swedish and Indiana mutations in the human amyloid precursor protein), aged 1.5 and 4, and age-matched wild type control mice were used to examine in vivo the effects of 8 weeks dietary supplementation of oleuropein aglycone (50 mg/kg of diet), the main polyphenol found in extra virgin olive oil. We report here that dietary supplementation of oleuropein aglycone strongly improves the cognitive performance of young/middle-aged TgCRND8 mice, a model of amyloid-ß deposition, respect to age-matched littermates with un-supplemented diet. Immunofluorescence analysis of cerebral tissue in oleuropein aglycone-fed transgenic mice showed remarkably reduced ß-amyloid levels and plaque deposits, which appeared less compact and “fluffy”; moreover, microglia migration to the plaques for phagocytosis and a remarkable reduction of the astrocyte reaction were evident. Finally, oleuropein aglycone-fed mice brain displayed an astonishingly intense autophagic reaction, as shown by the increase of autophagic markers expression and of lysosomal activity. Data obtained with cultured cells confirmed the latter evidence, suggesting mTOR regulation by oleuropein aglycone. Our results support, and provide mechanistic insights into, the beneficial effects against Alzheimer-associated neurodegeneration of a polyphenol enriched in the extra virgin olive oil, a major component of the Mediterranean diet.

J. Neurochem. (2010) 112, 1539–1551. Abstract To investigate the role of the Wnt inhibitor Dickkopf‐1 (DKK‐1) in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases, we analysed DKK‐1 expression and localization in transgenic mouse models expressing familial Alzheimer’s disease mutations and a frontotemporal dementia mutation. A significant increase of DKK‐1 expression was found in the diseased brain areas of all transgenic lines, where it co‐localized with hyperphosphorylated tau‐bearing neurons. In TgCRND8 mice, DKK‐1 immunoreactivity was detected in neurons surrounding amyloid deposits and within the choline acetyltransferase‐positive neurons of the basal forebrain. Active glycogen synthase kinase‐3 (GSK‐3) was found to co‐localize with DKK‐1 and phospho‐tau staining. Downstream to GSK‐3, a significant reduction in β‐catenin translocation to the nucleus, indicative of impaired Wnt signaling functions, was found as well. Cumulatively, our findings indicate that DKK‐1 expression is associated with events that lead to neuronal death in neurodegenerative diseases and support a role for DKK‐1 as a key mediator of neurodegeneration with therapeutic potential.

BackgroundAlzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive deterioration of cognitive functions, extracellular β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles within neocortex and hippocampus. Adult hippocampal neurogenesis plays an important role in learning and memory processes and its abnormal regulation might account for cognitive impairments associated with AD.Methodology/Principal FindingsThe double transgenic (Tg) CRND8 mice (overexpressing the Swedish and Indiana mutations in the human amyloid precursor protein), aged 2 and 6 months, were used to examine in vivo the effects of 5 weeks lithium treatment. BrdU labelling showed a decreased neurogenesis in the subgranular zone of Tg mice compared to non-Tg mice. The decrease of hippocampal neurogenesis was accompanied by behavioural deficits and worsened with age and pathology severity. The differentiation into neurons and maturation of the proliferating cells were also markedly impaired in the Tg mice. Lithium treatment to 2-month-old Tg mice significantly stimulated the proliferation and neuron fate specification of newborn cells and fully counteracted the transgene-induced impairments of cognitive functions. The drug, by the inhibition of GSK-3β and subsequent activation of Wnt/ß-catenin signalling promoted hippocampal neurogenesis. Finally, the data show that the lithium's ability to stimulate neurogenesis and cognitive functions was lost in the aged Tg mice, thus indicating that the lithium-induced facilitation of neurogenesis and cognitive functions declines as brain Aβ deposition and pathology increases.ConclusionsLithium, when given on time, stimulates neurogenesis and counteracts AD-like pathology.

The healthy effects of plant polyphenols, some of which characterize the so-called Mediterranean diet, have been shown to arise from epigenetic and biological modifications resulting, among others, in autophagy stimulation. Our previous work highlighted the beneficial effects of oleuropein aglycone (OLE), the main polyphenol found in the extra virgin olive oil, against neurodegeneration both in cultured cells and in model organisms, focusing, in particular, autophagy activation. In this study we investigated more in depth the molecular and cellular mechanisms of autophagy induction by OLE using cultured neuroblastoma cells and an OLE-fed mouse model of amylod beta (Aβ) deposition. We found that OLE triggers autophagy in cultured cells through the Ca2+-CAMKKβ–AMPK axis. In particular, in these cells OLE induces a rapid release of Ca2+ from the SR stores which, in turn, activates CAMKKβ, with subsequent phosphorylation and activation of AMPK. The link between AMPK activation and mTOR inhibition was shown in the OLE-fed animal model in which we found that decreased phospho-mTOR immunoreactivity and phosphorylated mTOR substrate p70 S6K levels match enhanced phospho-AMPK levels, supporting the idea that autophagy activation by OLE proceeds through mTOR inhibition. Our results agree with those reported for other plant polyphenols, suggesting a shared molecular mechanism underlying the healthy effects of these substances against ageing, neurodegeneration, cancer, diabetes and other diseases implying autophagy dysfunction.

a b s t r a c tAmyloid-ß (Aß) fragments, oligomeric Aß aggregates, and pyroglutamylated-Aß peptides, as well as epigenetic mechanisms and autophagy dysfunction all appear to contribute in various ways to Alzheimer's disease progression. We previously showed that dietary supplementation of oleuropein aglycone, a natural phenol abundant in the extra virgin olive oil, can be protective by reducing Aß42 deposits in the brain of young and middle-aged TgCRND8 mice. Here, we extended our study to aged TgCRND8 mice showing increased pE3-Aß in the brain deposits. We report that oleuropein aglycone is active against glutaminylcyclase-catalyzed pE3-Aß generation reducing enzyme expression and interferes both with Aß42 and pE3-Aß aggregation. Moreover, the phenol astonishingly activates neuronal autophagy even in mice at advanced stage of pathology, where it increases histone 3 and 4 acetylation, which matches both a decrease of histone deacetylase 2 expression and a significant improvement of synaptic function. The occurrence of these functional, epigenetic, and histopathologic beneficial effects even at a late stage of the pathology suggests that the phenol could be beneficial at the therapeutic, in addition to the prevention, level.