Ameliorative effect of betulin from Betula platyphylla bark on scopolamine-induced amnesic mice.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease induced by cholinergic neuron damage or amyloid-beta aggregation in the basal forebrain region and resulting in cognitive disorder. We previously reported on the neuroprotective effects of Betula platyphylla bark (BPB) in an amyloid-beta-induced amnesic mouse model. In this study, we obtained a cognitive-enhancing compound by assessing results using a scopolamine-induced amnesic mouse model. Our results show that oral treatment of mice with BPB and betulin significantly ameliorated scopolamine-induced memory deficits in both passive avoidance and Y-maze tests. In the Morris water maze test, administration of BPB and betulin significantly improved memory and cognitive function indicating the formation of working and reference memories in treated mice. Moreover, betulin significantly increased glutathione content in mouse hippocampus, and the increase was greater than that from betulinic acid treatment. We conclude that BPB and its active component betulin have potential as therapeutic, cognitive enhancer in AD.
a Molecular Targets Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research , National Cancer Institute , Frederick , MD , USA.|b College of Pharmacy and Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Science , Seoul National University , Seoul , Republic of Korea.
Namki
N
Cho
b College of Pharmacy and Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Science , Seoul National University , Seoul , Republic of Korea.
Hyeon Woo
HW
Kim
c Institute for Life Science , Elcom Science Co. Ltd. , Seoul , South Korea.
Hee Kyoung
HK
Lee
c Institute for Life Science , Elcom Science Co. Ltd. , Seoul , South Korea.
Byung Ju
BJ
Jeon
b College of Pharmacy and Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Science , Seoul National University , Seoul , Republic of Korea.
Sang Hyun
SH
Sung
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D000647:Amnesia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D029662:Betula / Q000737:chemistry*; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D051379:Mice; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D053978:Pentacyclic Triterpenes; D024301:Plant Bark / Q000737:chemistry; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry; D012601:Scopolamine; D014315:Triterpenes / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000094062:Betulinic Acid
D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D018697:Nootropic Agents; D053978:Pentacyclic Triterpenes; D010936:Plant Extracts; D014315:Triterpenes; C002503:betulin; D012601:Scopolamine; D005978:Glutathione; D000094062:Betulinic Acid
Morris water maze; Y-maze; betulin; cognitive enhancement; passive avoidance