Water extract of Triticum aestivum L. and its components demonstrate protective effect in a model of vascular dementia.
Although vascular dementia is the second leading cause of dementia and often underdiagnosed, there are no drugs yet approved for the treatment of vascular dementia. In this study, it is demonstrated that water extract of Triticum aestivum L. (TALE) and some of its components have protective effects against vascular dementia-induced damage by preserving the myelin sheath and inhibiting astrocytic activation. The memory test used a vascular dementia model utilizing bilateral ligation of the carotid arteries of rats. TALE, some of its components, such as starch, total dietary fiber (TDF), arabinoxylan, beta-glucan, and degraded products of arabinoxylan, such as arabinose and xylose, were administered to the animals from day 8 to day 14, following the surgery. Twenty-one days after the surgery, the water maze test was performed for 5 days, and the time taken to find the platform during training trials (mean escape latency) was measured. The mean escape latency was decreased consistently in the TALE-, starch-, TDF-, arabinoxylan-, and arabinose-treated groups, compared with that in the vascular dementia group. To measure brain damage, Luxol fast blue staining and immunohistochemistry of myelin basic protein (MBP) were performed to observe myelin sheath in the white matter, and immunohistochemistry of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) was performed to observe the astrocytic reaction. Vascular dementia reduced the MBP level and increased the GFAP level. Arabinose effectively inhibited the MBP and GFAP change, whereas arabinoxylan inhibited the GFAP change only. These results suggest that TALE and some of its components can be used as a medicinal material for the development of neuroprotective agents against vascular dementia.
Department of Physiology, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
Hyung Soo
HS
Han
Jung-Hee
JH
Jang
Jae Hee
JH
Jang
Jung Sook
JS
Choi
Yoon Jung
YJ
Kim
Chan
C
Lee
Sun Ha
SH
Lim
Hyeong-Kyu
HK
Lee
Jongwon
J
Lee
D000818:Animals; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D004676:Myelin Basic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000032:analysis; D020011:Protective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014908:Triticum / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D004676:Myelin Basic Protein; D010936:Plant Extracts; D020011:Protective Agents; D014867:Water