Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the extracellular accumulation of Amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques causing neurotoxicity and leading to neurodegeneration. The present study investigated the neuroprotective effects of Memantine (MN), an FDA approved drug, and the Ayurvedic nootropic drug Bacopa Monnieri (BM) on the amyloid precursor protein (APP) which is the precursor of the Aβ isoform, and the apoptotic pathway in LPS-induced SHSY5Y cells toxicity. Our results showed that the pretreatment with MN of LPS-induced toxicity in SHSY5Y cells significantly increased cell viability and decreased APP expression, thus limiting further neurotoxicity. In parallel, the apoptotic pathway triggered by LPS was reduced as represented by a dose-dependent increase in the expression of Bcl2, an anti-apoptotic marker, and a decrease in the expression of NFKB, cytochrome C and caspase-3. On the other hand, pretreatment with BM also protected the cells from LPS- induced neurotoxicity by significantly increasing cell viability and decreasing APP expression. In addition, BM also prevented apoptosis by decreasing the expression of cytochrome C and caspase 3. Overall, both MN and BM show anti-amyloidogenic and antiapoptotic effect in neuronal cells. The present study suggests that BM can be considered as a potential adjuvant therapy for preventing or delaying the progression of neurodegeneration in AD.
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