Protective effects of Populus tomentiglandulosa against cognitive impairment by regulating oxidative stress in an amyloid beta25–35-induced Alzheimer's disease mouse model

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most representative neurodegenerative disease mainly caused by the excessive production of amyloid beta (Aβ). Several studies on the antioxidant activity and protective effects of Populus tomentiglandulosa (PT) against cerebral ischemia-induced neuronal damage have been reported. Based on this background, the present study investigated the protective effects of PT against cognitive impairment in AD.

MATERIALS/METHODS We orally administered PT (50 and 100 mg/kg/day) for 14 days in an Aβ25-35-induced mouse model and conducted behavioral experiments to test cognitive ability. In addition, we evaluated the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in serum and measured the production of lipid peroxide, nitric oxide (NO), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in tissues.

RESULTS PT treatment improved the space perceptive ability in the T-maze test, object cognitive ability in the novel object recognition test, and spatial learning/long-term memory in the Morris water-maze test. Moreover, the levels of AST and ALT were not significantly different among the groups, indicating that PT did not show liver toxicity. Furthermore, administration of PT significantly inhibited the production of lipid peroxide, NO, and ROS in the brain, liver, and kidney, suggesting that PT protected against oxidative stress.

CONCLUSIONS Our study demonstrated that administration of PT improved Aβ25–35-induced cognitive impairment by regulating oxidative stress. Therefore, we propose that PT could be used as a natural agent for AD improvement.