With the increasing evidences of cadmium-induced cognitive deficits associated with brain cholinergic dysfunctions, the present study aimed to decipher molecular mechanisms involved in the neuroprotective efficacy of quercetin in rats. A decrease in the binding of cholinergic-muscarinic receptors and mRNA expression of cholinergic receptor genes (M1, M2, and M4) was observed in the frontal cortex and hippocampus on exposure of rats to cadmium (5.0 mg/kg body weight, p.o.) for 28 days compared to controls. Cadmium exposure resulted to decrease mRNA and protein expressions of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and enhance reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation associated with mitochondrial dysfunctions, ultrastructural changes, and learning deficits. Enhanced apoptosis, as evidenced by alterations in key proteins involved in the pro- and anti-apoptotic pathway and mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase signaling, was evident on cadmium exposure. Simultaneous treatment with quercetin (25 mg/kg body weight, p.o.) resulted to protect cadmium-induced alterations in cholinergic-muscarinic receptors, mRNA expression of genes (M1, M2, and M4), and expression of ChAT and AChE. The protective effect on brain cholinergic targets was attributed to the antioxidant potential of quercetin, which reduced ROS generation and protected mitochondrial integrity by modulating proteins involved in apoptosis and MAP kinase signaling. The results exhibit that quercetin may modulate molecular targets involved in brain cholinergic signaling and attenuate cadmium neurotoxicity.
Keywords: Cadmium; MAP kinase signaling; Neuroprotection; Quercetin; Rat brain.