YU Hongni,SUN Mengjie,WANG Fengli,et al.Mechanism of Dihuang Yinzi in Improving Astrocyte Injury and Glycolysis in AD Mice via PI3K/Akt Pathway[J].Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae,2023,29(08):10-18.
YU Hongni,SUN Mengjie,WANG Fengli,et al.Mechanism of Dihuang Yinzi in Improving Astrocyte Injury and Glycolysis in AD Mice via PI3K/Akt Pathway[J].Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae,2023,29(08):10-18. DOI: 10.13422/j.cnki.syfjx.20230606.
Mechanism of Dihuang Yinzi in Improving Astrocyte Injury and Glycolysis in AD Mice via PI3K/Akt Pathway
To explore the mechanism of Dihuang Yinzi in improving astrocyte injury and glycolysis in Alzheimer's disease (AD) mice via regulating the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway, thereby improving the cognitive function of AD mice.
Method
2
Forty male APP/PS1 transgenic mice aged four months were randomly divided into a model group and a model + Dihuang Yinzi (0.25 g·kg
-1
) group, with 20 mice in each group. Forty C57BL/6J mice with the same background and same age were randomly divided into a control group and a control + Dihuang Yinzi (0.25 g·kg
-1
) group, with 20 mice in each group. The mice in the control + Dihuang Yinzi group and the model + Dihuang Yinzi group were administered with Dihuang Yinzi by gavage, and those in the control group and the model group received an equal volume of sterilized normal saline, once a day for 150 days. Morris water maze test was performed to test the ability of navigation and space exploration of mice. The protein expression of p-PI3K, PI3K, p-Akt, Akt, phosphofructokinase-1 (PFK-1), and aldehyde dehydrogenase 3 family member B2 (ALDH3B2) in mouse brain tissues was measured by Western blot. An immunofluorescence assay was performed to detect astrocyte morphology and the expression level of ALDH3B2.
Result
2
As compared with the control group, the model group showed prolonged escape latency during the 2
nd
to 5
th
days of the location-based navigation (
P
<
0.05,
P
<
0.01), reduced number of times crossing the target area of the platform, shortened residence time in the target quadrant (
P
<
0.05,
P
<
0.01), prolonged residence time in the opposite quadrant (
P
<
0.05), increased surface area of the cell body and total length of cell protrusions of astrocytes (
P
<
0.05,
P
<
0.01), and down-regulated protein expression of p-PI3K, p-Akt, ALDH3B2, and PFK-1 (
P
<
0.01), while the above experimental indexes were not significantly different in the control + Dihuang Yinzi group. Compared with the model group, the model + Dihuang Yinzi group showed shortened escape latency of APP/PS1 mice during the 2
nd
to 5
th
days of the location-based navigation (
P
<
0.05,
P
<
0.01), increased number of times crossing the platform, prolonged target quadrant residence time (
P
<
0.05,
P
<
0.01), shortened residence time in the opposite quadrant (
P
<
0.05), reduced surface area of the cell body and total length of cell protrusions of astrocytes (
P
<
0.05), and up-regulated protein expression of p-PI3K, p-Akt, ALDH3B2, and PFK-1 (
P
<
0.01).
Conclusion
2
Dihuang Yinzi can improve the learning and memory ability of AD mice by activating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and up-regulating the protein expression of PFK-1 and ALDH3B2 to protect against astrocyte injury in brain tissues and improve glycolysis.
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