scholarly journals Polyphenol-rich extract from grape and blueberry attenuates cognitive decline and improves neuronal function in aged mice

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Bensalem ◽  
Stéphanie Dudonné ◽  
David Gaudout ◽  
Laure Servant ◽  
Frédéric Calon ◽  
...  

AbstractAgeing is characterised by memory deficits, associated with brain plasticity impairment. Polyphenols from berries, such as flavan-3-ols, anthocyanins, and resveratrol, have been suggested to modulate synaptic plasticity and cognitive processes. In the present study we assessed the preventive effect of a polyphenol-rich extract from grape and blueberry (PEGB), with high concentrations of flavonoids, on age-related cognitive decline in mice. Adult and aged (6 weeks and 16 months) mice were fed a PEGB-enriched diet for 14 weeks. Learning and memory were assessed using the novel object recognition and Morris water maze tasks. Brain polyphenol content was evaluated with ultra-high-performance LC-MS/MS. Hippocampal neurotrophin expression was measured using quantitative real-time PCR. Finally, the effect of PEGB on adult hippocampal neurogenesis was assessed by immunochemistry, counting the number of cells expressing doublecortin and the proportion of cells with dendritic prolongations. The combination of grape and blueberry polyphenols prevented age-induced learning and memory deficits. Moreover, it increased hippocampal nerve growth factor (Ngf) mRNA expression. Aged supplemented mice displayed a greater proportion of newly generated neurons with prolongations than control age-matched mice. Some of the polyphenols included in the extract were detected in the brain in the native form or as metabolites. Aged supplemented mice also displayed a better survival rate. These data suggest that PEGB may prevent age-induced cognitive decline. Possible mechanisms of action include a modulation of brain plasticity. Post-treatment detection of phenolic compounds in the brain suggests that polyphenols may act directly at the central level, while they can make an impact on mouse survival through a potential systemic effect.

2019 ◽  
pp. 105-112
Author(s):  
Risto Näätänen ◽  
Teija Kujala ◽  
Gregory Light

This chapter shows that MMN and its magnetoencephalographic (MEG) equivalent MMNm are sensitive indices of aging-related perceptual and cognitive decline. Importantly, the age-related neural changes are associated with a decrease of general brain plasticity, i.e. that of the ability of the brain to form and maintain sensory-memory traces, a necessary basis for veridical perception and appropriate cognitive brain function. MMN/MMNm to change in stimulus duration is particularly affected by aging, suggesting the increased vulnerability of temporal processing to brain aging and accounting, for instance, for a large part of speech-perception difficulties of the aged beyond the age-related peripheral hearing loss.


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 693-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Sun ◽  
Qingshan Sun ◽  
Jinshun Qi

AbstractDepression is a prevalent devastating mental disorder that affects the normal life of patients and brings a heavy burden to whole society. Although many efforts have been made to attenuate depressive/anxiety symptoms, the current clinic antidepressants have limited effects. Scientists have long been making attempts to find some new strategies that can be applied as the alternative antidepressant therapy. Exercise, a widely recognized healthy lifestyle, has been suggested as a therapy that can relieve psychiatric stress. However, how exercise improves the brain functions and reaches the antidepressant target needs systematic summarization due to the complexity and heterogeneous feature of depression. Brain plasticity, especially adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus, is an important neurophysiology to facilitate animals for neurogenesis can occur in not only humans. Many studies indicated that an appropriate level of exercise can promote neurogenesis in the adult brains. In this article, we provide information about the antidepressant effects of exercise and its implications in adult neurogenesis. From the neurogenesis perspective, we summarize evidence about the effects of exercise in enhancing neurogenesis in the hippocampus through regulating growth factors, neurotrophins, neurotransmitters and metabolism as well as inflammations. Taken together, a large number of published works indicate the multiple benefits of exercise in the brain functions of animals, particularly brain plasticity like neurogenesis and synaptogenesis. Therefore, a new treatment method for depression therapy can be developed by regulating the exercise activity.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Martina Sassi

Ghrelin is a 28-amino acid hormone that is generated in a wide number of tissues. Its active form, acyl-ghrelin is able to bind to its receptor GHS-R and exert a variety of functions. In the brain, acyl-ghrelin has been associated with neuroprotection, improved memory and adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN). However, the mechanisms controlling acyl-ghrelin-mediated AHN are still unknown. To elucidate this process, different markers of neurogenesis were assessed in a mouse model in which GHS-R+ neurones were ablated specifically from the rostral DG of the hippocampus (rDG), showing that rDG GHS-R+ neurones are essential for maintaining AHN. Acyl-ghrelin has also been shown to prevents the damage caused by neurodegeneration, at least in young animal models of disease. In this thesis, we demonstrated that in the geriatric Tg2576 mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, acyl-ghrelin maintained an effect on β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques in the hippocampus, promoting a reduction of the Aβ plaques size in AD-like mouse model compared to WT mice. Collectively, research findings highlight the importance of circulating acyl-ghrelin in the brain. However, ghrelin exists in two distinct forms and acyl-ghrelin can be enzymatically modified to the ‘inactive' unacylated-ghrelin (UAG) by acyl-protein thioesterase 1 (APT1). Preventing APT1 mediated de-acylation and increasing acyl-ghrelin bio-availability may prevent the damage caused by neurodegeneration. Unpublished data from our group suggest that PalmostatinB, an APT1 inhibitor, increases levels of acyl-ghrelin in macrophage cells (that naturally produce ghrelin). Therefore, this and other APT1 inhibitors may be considered possible therapeutic agents for the treatment of cognitive decline and diseases associated with dementia. We confirmed that, among several APT1 inhibitors, PalmostatinB is able to increase the level of acyl-ghrelin in vitro. However, further research is warranted into APT1 inhibitors as a novel therapeutic approach to treating cognitive decline and dementia. Together, the data in this thesis support a role for the ghrelinergic system components in modulating brain functions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-57
Author(s):  
Jasleen Kaur ◽  
Manish Kumar ◽  
Nitin Bansal

Background: Holarrhena antidysenterica is a deciduous shrub/small-tree having bioactive alkaloids such as conessine, known for astringent, antidysenteric, anthelmintic, stomachic, febrifugal, tonic and anti-acetylcholinesterase properties. Dementia is an age related neurodegenerative syndrome with Alzheimer’s disease, the most prominent cause, which has limited therapeutic options available. Objective: The present study aimed to explore the potential benefits of H. antidysenterica in the management of dementia. Method: Aqueous and methanol extracts of powdered bark of H. antidysenterica were prepared, concentrated and conessine concentration was estimated using High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) method. Methanol extract of H. antidysenterica (MEHA) was administered at doses 100, 150 and 200 mg/kg (i.p.) to mice (20-30 g) for 14 consecutive days. Scopolamine (Scop; 1 mg/kg) and Lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 250 μg/kg) were given (i.p.) before behavioural trials to induce memory impairment. Learning and memory functions in mice were evaluated. Brain acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, glutathione (GSH) and Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive substances (TBARS) levels were estimated. Results: MEHA markedly increased learning and memory of mice. Scop or LPS caused a significant decline of spatial memory in mice, which was attenuated by MEHA (100 and 200 mg/kg). Furthermore, LPS conspicuously increased the lipid peroxidation and compromised antioxidant levels in mice brains. MEHA pre-treatment significantly increased GSH content and decreased TBARS level in the brain of LPS administered mice. AChE activity was significantly decreased by MEHA in the brain of mice. Conclusion: The methanol extract of H. antidysenterica may prove to be a useful remedy in the management of dementia.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eri Kawashita ◽  
Keiichi Ishihara ◽  
Haruko Miyaji ◽  
Yu Tanishima ◽  
Akiko Kiriyama ◽  
...  

Abstract α2-Antiplasmin (α2AP), a principal physiological plasmin inhibitor, is mainly produced by the liver and kidneys, but it is also expressed in several parts of the brain, including the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. Our previous study demonstrated that α2AP knockout mice exhibit spatial memory impairment in comparison to wild-type mice, suggesting that α2AP is necessary for the fetal and/or neonatal development of the neural network for spatial memory. However, it is still unclear whether α2AP plays a role in the memory process. The present study demonstrated that adult hippocampal neurogenesis and remote spatial memory were enhanced by the injection of an anti-α2AP neutralizing antibody in WT mice, while the injection of α2AP reduced hippocampal neurogenesis and impaired remote spatial memory, suggesting that α2AP is a negative regulator in memory processing. The present study also found that the levels of α2AP in the brains of old mice were higher than those in young mice, and a negative correlation between the α2AP level and spatial working memory. In addition, aging-dependent brain oxidative stress and hippocampal inflammation were attenuated by α2AP deficiency. Thus, an age-related increase in α2AP might cause cognitive decline accompanied by brain oxidative stress and neuroinflammation. Taken together, our findings suggest that α2AP is a key regulator of the spatial memory process, and that it may represent a promising target to effectively regulate healthy brain aging.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Alexandre Santos Marzano ◽  
Fabyolla Lúcia Macedo de Castro ◽  
Caroline Amaral Machado ◽  
João Luís Vieira Monteiro de Barros ◽  
Thiago Macedo e Cordeiro ◽  
...  

: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a serious cause of disability and death among young and adult individuals, displaying complex pathophysiology including cellular and molecular mechanisms that are not fully elucidated. Many experimental and clinical studies investigated the potential relationship between TBI and the process by which neurons are formed in the brain, known as neurogenesis. Currently, there are no available treatments for TBI’s long-term consequences being the search for novel therapeutic targets, a goal of highest scientific and clinical priority. Some studies evaluated the benefits of treatments aimed at improving neurogenesis in TBI. In this scenario, herein, we reviewed current pre-clinical studies that evaluated different approaches to improving neurogenesis after TBI while achieving better cognitive outcomes, which may consist in interesting approaches for future treatments.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1978-1978
Author(s):  
J.H. Sliwowska

IntroductionFetal programming refers to the concept that early environmental factors, including prenatal exposure to stress and drugs, can permanently organize or imprint physiological and behavioural systems and increase vulnerability to disorders such as depression and anxiety later in life.AimsIs prenatal exposure to alcohol a factor which re-programs the brain?ObjectivesEffects of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on:1)the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis;2)the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis;3)serotonergic (5-HT) system and4)adult hippocampal neurogenesis are presented.MethodsOffspring from prenatal ethanol (PAE), pair-fed (PF) and ad lib-fed control (C) dams are studied across the development or in adulthood. Immunocytochemistry and in situ hybridization techniques are used.ResultsIn term of the HPA axis: PAE alters the balance of mineralocorticoids/glucocorticoids (MRs/GRs) receptor levels in the hippocampus of adult females. In the case of the HPG axis: PAE delays puberty and changes hormonal profiles in males and females. PAE also decreases numbers of 5-HT-immunoreactive neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus of the brainstem in ovariectomized rats and estradiol and progesterone modulate those effects. Finally, in adult PAE males, but not females stress-induced decrease in neurogenesis is altered.ConclusionsIn our animal model PAE re-programs the brain. Effects of PAE are long-lasting, affect HPA and HPG axes, 5-HT system and adult hippocampal neurogenesis and if seen in humans could contribute to increased vulnerability to depression and anxiety.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 4755-4762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei An ◽  
Yuchen Sun ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Xiaolong Huang ◽  
Rui Xue ◽  
...  

Recently, dietary intervention has been considered as a prospective strategy in delaying age-related cognitive dysfunction and brain plasticity degeneration.


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