Intervention Effect of Kidney-tonifying and Essence-filling Therapy on Hippocampal Autophagy in Kidney-deficiency Alzheimer Mice / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To study the effect of Liuwei Dihuangwan on the improvement of autophagy level of hippocampal neurons in mice with kidney deficiency Alzheimer' s disease (AD) and its partial mechanism, in order to explore part of therapeutic mechanisms of kidney-tonifying and essence-filling therapy for AD. Method:Healthy male C57-B6 mice were divided into control group, AD group, kidney deficiency AD group and Liuwei Dihuangwan group(1.08 g·kg-1). The control group and the AD group were subcutaneously injected with normal saline (15 mL·kg-1) daily, and the kidney deficiency AD group and the Liuwei Dihuangwan group were subcutaneously injected with hydrocortisone injection (15 mL·kg-1) daily for 20 consecutive days. On the 21st day, the other three groups were injected with 6 μg amyloid beta protein 25-35(Aβ25-35) in the lateral ventricle, while the control group was injected with sterile saline into the lateral ventricle. The levels of serum cortisol and testosterone in each group were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the morphological changes in hippocampal neurons were observed by transmission electron microscopy, the expression of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3) was detected by immunofluorescence, and the expression of selective autophagic junction protein (p62) was detected by Western blot. Result:Compared with normal group, serum cortisol and testosterone levels in AD group and kidney deficiency AD group were significantly reduced (PPPPPPPPPConclusion:Kidney-tonifying and essence-filling therapy can protect hippocampal neurons, increase LC3 expression in hippocampal neurons, decrease p62 expression level and increase autophagy level of hippocampal neurons. It has a certain therapeutic effect on kidney-deficiency Alzheimer' s disease.