title: Panax notoginsenoside Rb1 ameliorates Alzheimer's disease by upregulating brain-derived neurotrophic factor and downregulating Tau protein expression.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder and the main cause of dementia. Panax notoginsenoside Rb1 (PNRb1), which is also known as (3β,12β)-20-[(6-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-β-D-glucopyranosyl)oxy]-12-hydroxydammar-24-en-3-yl 2-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-β-D-glucopyranoside and is the main active component of the plantPanax notoginseng, is effective in treating AD. However, the mechanisms of PNRb1 remain unknown. In the present study, rat brain tissue sections were pretreated with PNRb1 and then induced by okadaic acid to establish brain slice models of AD. The results of qPCR and immunoblot analyses demonstrated that PNRb1 suppressed the protein expression of phosphorylated Tau and upregulated the expression levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). These results suggest that PNRb1 is able to upregulate the protein level of BDNF and downregulate Tau protein phosphorylation in AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110015, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Qunying
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Panax notoginsenoside Rb1; brain-derived neurotrophic factor; okadaic acid; phosphorylated Tau protein