Smart Soup, a traditional Chinese medicine formula, ameliorates amyloid pathology and related cognitive deficits.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes substantial public health care burdens. Intensive efforts have been made to find effective and safe disease-modifying treatment and symptomatic intervention alternatives against AD. Smart Soup (SS), a Chinese medicine formula composed of Rhizoma Acori Tatarinowii (AT), Poria cum Radix Pini (PRP) and Radix Polygalae (RP), is a typical prescription against memory deficits. Here, we assessed the efficacy of SS against AD. Oral administration of SS ameliorated the cognitive impairment of AD transgenic mice, with reduced Aβ levels, retarded Aβ amyloidosis and reduced Aβ-induced gliosis and neuronal loss in the brains of AD mice. Consistently, SS treatment reduced amyloid-related locomotor dysfunctions and premature death of AD transgenic Drosophila. Mechanistic studies showed that RP reduced Aβ generation, whereas AT and PRP exerted neuroprotective effects against Aβ. Taken together, our study indicates that SS could be effective against AD, providing a practical therapeutic strategy against the disease.
State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Yujun
Y
Hou
Institute of Neurology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Ying
Y
Wang
State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Jian
J
Zhao
State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Xiaohang
X
Li
State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Jin
J
Cui
Institute of Neurology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Jianqing
J
Ding
Department of Neurology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Ying
Y
Wang
State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Xianglu
X
Zeng
Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Yun
Y
Ling
Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Xiaoheng
X
Shen
Institute of Neurology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Shengdi
S
Chen
Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Chenggang
C
Huang
State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Signaling and Disease Research, School of Life Science and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
Gang
G
Pei
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017772:Amyloid Neuropathies / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004330:Drosophila; D005911:Gliosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics
D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D028321:Plant Preparations; C119272:beta-amyloid precursor protein kinase I; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases