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In Vivo Screening of Traditional Medicinal Plants for Neuroprotective Activity against A beta 42 Cytotoxicity by Using Drosophila Models of Alzheimer''s Disease

Authors Liu, Quan Feng; Lee, Jang Ho; Kim, Young-Mi; Lee, Soojin; Hong, Yoon Ki; Hwang, Soojin; Oh, Youngje; Lee, Kyungho; Yun, Hye Sup; Lee, Im-Soon; Jeon, Songhee; Chin, Young-Won; Koo, Byung-Soo; Cho, Kyoung Sang

Journal BIOLOGICAL & PHARMACEUTICAL BULLETIN , DEC 2015,12:38

DOI 10.1248/bpb.b15-00459 PubMed 26458335

Abstract Alzheimer''s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by progressive neuronal loss with amyloid beta-peptide (Aft) plaques. Despite several drugs currently used to treat AD, their beneficial effects on AD progress remains under debate. Here, we established a rapid in vivo screening system using Drosophila AD models to assess the neuroprotective activities of medicinal plants that have been used in traditional Chinese medicine. Among 23 medicinal plants tested, the extracts from five plants, Coriandrum sativum, Nardostachys jatamansi, Polygonum multiflorum (P. multflorum), Rehmannia glutinosa, and Sorbus commixta (S. commixta), showed protective effects against the A beta 42 neurotoxicity. We further characterized the neuroprotective activity of ethanol extracts from P. multiflorum and S. conunixta. A beta 42-expressing flies that we used showed AD neurological phenotypes, such as decreased survival and motility and increased cell death and reactive oxygen species level. However, feeding these flies extracts from P. multiflorum or S. commixta showed strong suppression of such phenotypes. Similar results were observed in human cells, so that the treatment of P. multiflorum and S. commixta extracts increased the viability of A beta-treated SH-SY5Y cells. Moreover, 2,3,5,4''-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-beta-n-glucoside, one of the main constituents of P. multiflorum, also showed similar protective activity against A beta 42 cytotoxicity in both Drosophila and human cells. Taken together, our results suggest that both P. multijiorum and S. conunixta have therapeutic potential for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as AD.

Species covered 何首乌 Fallopia multiflora 地黄 Rehmannia glutinosa 芫荽 Coriandrum sativum 匙叶甘松 Nardostachys jatamansi