SK-PC-B70M confers anti-oxidant activity and reduces Aβ levels in the brain of Tg2576 mice

• Published in: Brain research 2009-03, Vol.1261, p.100-108
• Main Authors: Seo, Ji-Seon, Kim, Tae-Kyung, Leem, Yea-Hyun, Lee, Kang-Woo, Park, Sun-Kyu, Baek, In-Sun, Kim, Kyoung-Shim, Im, Guang-Jin, Lee, Soo Min, Park, Yang Hae, Han, Pyung-Lim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Alzheimer disease; Biological and medical sciences; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Medical sciences; Natural compound; Neurology; Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology; Plaque; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Pulsatilla koreana; ROS
• ISSN: 0006-8993; 1872-6240
• DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2009.01.019

Abstract SK-PC-B70M is an oleanolic-glycoside saponin-enriched fraction derived from the root of Pulsatilla koreana. Recently, it was reported that hederacolchiside-E is an active ingredient of SK-PC-B70M that confers a neuroprotective effect against the cytotoxicity induced by Aβ(1–42) in SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells. SK-PC-B70M improves scopolamine-induced impairments of spatial working memory in rats. In the present study, we investigated whether SK-PC-B70M has a beneficial effect on the Tg2576 murine model of Alzheimer's disease. ELISA analysis revealed that the levels of soluble and insoluble forms of Aβ(1–42) in Tg2576 mice fed SK-PC-B70M (2000 ppm) from 11 months to 16 months of age were reduced to, respectively, 66% and 79% of the control Tg2576 mice. Anti-Aβ antibody-stained brain sections of Tg2576 mice with SK-PC-B70M (2000 ppm) consistently showed a reduction in plaque formation in the brain. Western blot analyses showed altered expressions of various cellular factors, such as up-regulation of transthyretin, phospho-ERK, and phospho-CREB in the brain treated with SK-PC-B70M. SK-PC-B70M suppressed the neuronal toxicity induced by H2 O2 in primary cortical culture. Moreover, biochemical and immunohistochemical analyses showed that the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), oxidized by-products of lipid peroxidation, were notably reduced in the hippocampus of Tg2576 mice treated with SK-PC-B70M compared with the Tg2576 control. These results suggest that SK-PC-B70M attenuates AD-like pathology in the brain of Tg2576 mice.