The fruit of Crataegus pinnatifida ameliorates memory deficits in β-amyloid protein-induced Alzheimer's disease mouse model

Ethnopharmacological relevance: The fruit of Crataegus pinnatifida is a traditional medicine widely used as digestive drug in East Asia. Although Chinese herbal medicine used it for mental health, scientific evidence does not exist, yet. Aims of study: The aim of this study is to show that the ethanol extract of the fruit of Crataegus pinnatifida (CPE) has neuroprotective effect on Alzheimer' disease model mice. Materials and methods: Intracerebroventricular injection of A beta was used to induce Alzheimer's disease-like pathology. Passive avoidance and Y-maze tasks were used to examine the effect of CPE on memory impairrilents by A beta. Immunohistochemistry was used to examine the effect of CPE on glial activation. ThT assay was used to observe the effect of CPE on A beta aggregation. MTT and LDH release assays were utilized to examine effects of CPE on A beta-induced cytotoxicity. Results: CPE prevented memory deficit in A beta-induced memory impairment model. Moreover, CPE prevented glial activation in the hippocampus of A beta-injected model. In in vitro test, CPE inhibited A beta fibril formation in a concentration-dependent manner. CPE also caused disaggregation of A beta fibrils. Along with this, CPE blocked neuronal cell death induced by A beta. Conclusions: Collectively, these experimental findings demonstrated that CPE could be a candidate for development of AD therapy.