Effect of early intervention with extract of Huannao Yicong Decoction (还脑益聪方) on the pathologic picture of hippocampus and neurocyte apoptosis in APP transgenic mice model of dementia

• Published in: Chinese journal of integrative medicine 2011-06, Vol.17 (6), p.430-435
• Main Authors: Li, Hao, Cai, Lin-lin, Liu, Jian-gang, Liu, Long-tao, Guan, Jie, Liu, Ming-fang, Hu, Jia, Wei, Yun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor - genetics; Animals; Apoptosis; bcl-2-Associated X Protein - metabolism; Dementia - drug therapy; Dementia - pathology; Disease Models, Animal; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - pharmacology; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - therapeutic use; Hippocampus - drug effects; Hippocampus - pathology; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Transgenic; Neurons - drug effects; Neurons - pathology; Original Article; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plant Extracts - therapeutic use
• ISSN: 1672-0415; 1993-0402
• DOI: 10.1007/s11655-011-0752-9

Objective To observe the effect of early intervention using extract of Huannao Yicong Decoction (还脑益聪方, HYD) on the pathological picture of hippocampus, neurocyte apoptosis, and associated regulatory genes in β-amyloid precursor protein (APP) transgenic mice model of dementia. Methods Sixty APP695 V7171 transgenic mice were randomly divided into four groups of 15. The model group was treated with distilled water, the positive control group was treated with donepezil (0.65 mg/kg), and the two HYD groups were treated with high dose (2.8 g/kg) and low dose (1.4 g/kg) HYD, respectively. All testing drugs were administered through gastrogavage by dissolving in equal volume of distilled water, once a day for six successive months. In addition, a normal control group with 15 healthy C57BL/6J mice of the same age and genetic background was set up with distilled water treatment. The pathologic picture of brain tissue was observed by microscopy with HE stain; the amount of apoptosis cells in the hippocampal CA1 area was detected by TUNEL; and expressions of associated genes, Bcl-2, and Bax were determined by immunohistochemical method. Results Pathologic pictures of hippocampus showed that in the model group, cells messily arranged, neurons markedly decreased, and the surrounding tissue of some cells was loosened with edema, necrosis, and widened gap with glia cells proliferation. Compared with those in the normal group, the amount of apoptosis cells in the CA1 area was increased, Bcl-2 expression decreased, and Bax expression increased significantly, with markedly reduced Bcl-2/Bax ratio in the model group. Compared to the model group, the pathological changes were significantly milder in the HYD-treated groups, showing rather regularly arranged cells, significantly increased neurons, only few denatured necrotic cells with milder edema, less proliferation of glia cells, and obviously reduced cell apoptosis in CA1 area ( P