Puerariae Radix Prevents Anxiety and Cognitive Deficits in Mice Under Oligomeric Aβ-Induced Stress

Abstract

To evaluate the therapeutic effects of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), we evaluated five CHMs in oligomeric A[Formula: see text]-treated mouse primary hippocampal neuronal cultures. The aqueous extract from the root of Pueraria lobata (Puerariae Radix; PR) showed better neuroprotective effects than did the other four CHM aqueous extracts, including Gardenia jasminoides, Eleutherococcus senticosus, Rhodiola rosea, and Panax, in the primary culture treated with saline or oligomeric A[Formula: see text]. Furthermore, the neuroprotective effects of aqueous extract of PR were also better than its well-known active compound, puerarin, against the neurotoxicity of oligomeric A[Formula: see text] in a primary culture. For in vivo experiments, C57BL/6J male mice that received direct infusion of soluble oligomeric A[Formula: see text] into the bilateral hippocampal CA1 subregion were used as an alternative AD mouse model. The effects and molecular mechanisms of chronic systemic administration of PR aqueous extract were evaluated in the alternative AD model. PR aqueous extract prevented anxiety and cognitive impairment in mice associated with a decrease in the levels of A[Formula: see text] deposition, tau protein phosphorylation, inflammation, loss of noradrenergic, and serotonergic neurons and an increase in the levels of synaptophysin and insulin degrading enzyme (IDE) against the toxicity of oligomeric A[Formula: see text]. Furthermore, no obvious damage to the liver and kidney was detected after chronic systemic administration of PR aqueous extract. Therefore, using PR could be a safer, more effective therapeutic strategy than using its active compound puerarin to prevent both cognitive and noncognitive dysfunction and related pathological features of AD.

Effects of puerarin on chronic inflammation: Focus on the heart, brain, and arteries

“… 58 More interestingly, in oligomer Aβ‐induced stress mice, puerarin effectively mitigated anxiety and prevented cognitive deficits. 59 …”

Medicine-Food Herbs against Alzheimer’s Disease: A Review of Their Traditional Functional Features, Substance Basis, Clinical Practices and Mechanisms of Action

“…To clarify the mechanism of Puerariae Radix for neuroprotective effects, Huang HJ et al designed C57BL/6J mice that received a direct infusion of soluble oligomeric A to evaluate the extract of Puerariae Radix alleviation of Aβ deposition in the rat hippocampus. Experimentally, it was observed that Puerariae Radix aqueous extract decreased Aβ deposition, tau protein phosphorylation, inflammation, and loss of noradrenergic and serotonergic neurons, while increasing synaptophysin-and insulin-degrading enzymes against the toxicity of oligomeric Aβ [54].…”

Can We Treat Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease?

“…Other polyphenols have also been shown to obtain promising results in preclinical models of AD. Among them: Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) (green tea) is an α-secretase activity inhibitor [78,79]; Ferulic acid, found in grains, fruits, and vegetables, has been tested alone [80] or in combination with EGCC [81]; Silibinin (herb milk thistle; Silybum marianum) [82]; Apigenin, found in vegetables, fruits, herbs and plant-based beverages [83,84]; Puerarin, a Chinese herbal medicine [85,86]. Nevertheless, to our knowledge, in spite of the therapeutic potential of these compounds, they have not been tested in human patients.…”