Research Paper Volume 13, Issue 14 pp 18287—18297

Albiflorin alleviates cognitive dysfunction in STZ-induced rats

Xiaojun Ma1, , Min Song1, , Yushan Yan1, , Gaofei Ren1, , Jingwen Hou1, , Guijun Qin1, , Wang Wang2, , Zhizhen Li1, ,

  • 1 Department of Endocrinology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, Henan, China
  • 2 Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan, China

Received: March 9, 2020       Accepted: June 14, 2021       Published: July 28, 2021      

https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.203274
How to Cite

Copyright: © 2021 Ma et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

Background: To explore the effect of albiflorin (AL) on streptozotocin (STZ)-induced Alzheimer's disease (AD) in rats.

Methods: A mouse model of diabetic encephalopathy was established by intraperitoneal injection of 1%STZ. Step down test and water maze test were used to test the cognitive function of rats. Congo Red Staining was used to detect the distribution of Aβ plaques in the hippocampus of rats. Cytokine levels in serum and hippocampus were measured using ELISA. Serum insulin, oral glucose tolerance (OGTT), serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content were measured by commercial kits. And the content of Nrf-2/HO-1/HMGB1/NF-kB in the hippocampus of diabetic rats were detected by western blot.

Results and Conclusion: Compared with the STZ model group, the average escape latency of rats in the AL group in the Morris water maze test was significantly shortened, and the average number of platform crossings and the ratio of distance/total swimming distance in the target quadrant were increased significantly. Staining of tissue sections and ELISA showed a decrease in Aβ plaque density in the hippocampus of rats in the AL group. And serum insulin levels of rats in the ALgroup were significantly reduced and OGTT was improved. In addition, AL could also regulate the Nrf-2/HO-1/HMGB1/NF-kB signal pathway in the hippocampus. Therefore, AL may ameliorate STZ-induced cognitive impairment in rats by regulating oxidative stress and inflammation in the brain.

Abbreviations

AL: albiflorin; STZ: streptozotocin; AD: Alzheimer's disease (AD); MDA: malondialdehyde; SOD: superoxide dismutase; ARE: antioxidant-related elements (ARE); NQO1: NAD (para) hydroquinone oxidoreductase; IKK: phosphorylations of IκB kinases; IL-6: interleukin-6; IL-1β: interleukin-1β; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor-α; NF-κB: Nuclear factor-kappa B; ELISA: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.