Cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the action of ginsenoside Rg1 against Alzheimer's disease

Xi Li; Ming Li; Yuan Li; Qiankun Quan; Juan Wang

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2012.36.002

Cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the action of ginsenoside Rg1 against Alzheimer's disease

Neural Regen Res. 2012 Dec 25;7(36):2860-6. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2012.36.002.

Authors

Xi Li¹, Ming Li¹, Yuan Li², Qiankun Quan³, Juan Wang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geriatrics, Second Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710004, Shaanxi Province, China.
² Department of Encephalopathy, Xi'an Electric Power Central Hospital, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China.
³ Research Center of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, Shaanxi Province, China.
⁴ Department of Laboratory Medicine, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China.

PMID: 25317137
PMCID: PMC4190943
DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2012.36.002

Abstract

Ginsenoside Rg1 inhibits oxidation, aging and cell apoptosis, and improves cognitive function. In this study, we pretreated rat brain tissue sections with ginsenoside Rg1, and established brain slice models of Alzheimer's disease induced by okadaic acid. The results revealed that ginsenoside Rg1 pretreatment suppressed the increase in phosphorylated Tau protein expression induced by incubation with okadaic acid, and reduced brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression. These results suggest that ginsenoside Rg1 upregulates brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression and inhibits Tau protein phosphorylation in brain slices from a rat model of Alzheimer's disease.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; brain-derived neurotrophic factor; ginsenoside Rg1; neural regeneration; okadaic acid; phosphorylated Tau protein; traditional Chinese medicine.