Lemon essential oil ameliorates age-associated cognitive dysfunction via modulating hippocampal synaptic density and inhibiting acetylcholinesterase.

Abstract

The lemon essential oil (LEO), extracted from the fruit of lemon, has been used to treat multiple pathological diseases, such as diabetes, inflammation, cardiovascular diseases, depression and hepatobiliary dysfunction. The study was designed to study the effects of LEO on cognitive dysfunction induced by Alzheimer's disease (AD). We used APP/PS1 double transgene (APP/PS1) AD mice in the experiment; these mice exhibit significant deficits in synaptic density and hippocampal-dependent spatial related memory. The effects of LEO on learning and memory were examined using the Morris Water Maze (MWM) test, Novel object recognition test, and correlative indicators, including a neurotransmitter (acetylcholinesterase, AChE), a nerve growth factor (brain-derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF), a postsynaptic marker (PSD95), and presynaptic markers (synapsin-1, and synaptophysin), in APP/PS1 mice. Histopathology was performed to estimate the effects of LEO on AD mice. A significantly lowered brain AChE depression in APP/PS1 and wild-type C57BL/6L (WT) mice. PSD95/ Synaptophysin, the index of synaptic density, was noticeably improved in histopathologic changes. Hence, it can be summarized that memory-enhancing activity might be associated with a reduction in the AChE levels and is elevated by BDNF, PSD95, and synaptophysin through enhancing synaptic plasticity.

• Authors: Bonan Liu, Jiayuan Kou, Fuyan Li, Da Huo, Jiaran Xu, Xiaoxi Zhou, Dehao Meng, Murtaza Ghulam, Bobkov Artyom, Xu Gao, Ning Ma, Dong Han
• Journal: Aging (Aging (Albany NY)) Vol. 12 Issue 9 Pg. 8622-8639 (05 11 2020) ISSN: 1945-4589 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 32392535 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Amyloid beta-Peptides
• Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
• Disks Large Homolog 4 Protein
• Neuroprotective Agents
• Oils, Volatile
• Plant Oils
• Acetylcholinesterase
• lemon oil

Topics

• Acetylcholinesterase (metabolism)
• Alzheimer Disease (metabolism)
• Amyloid beta-Peptides (metabolism)
• Animals
• Behavior, Animal (drug effects)
• Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (metabolism)
• Cognition (drug effects)
• Cognitive Dysfunction (drug therapy, metabolism, pathology, psychology)
• Disease Models, Animal
• Disks Large Homolog 4 Protein (metabolism)
• Hippocampus (drug effects, metabolism, pathology)
• Male
• Maze Learning (drug effects)
• Mice
• Mice, Inbred C57BL
• Mice, Transgenic
• Morris Water Maze Test
• Neuronal Plasticity (drug effects)
• Neuroprotective Agents (pharmacology)
• Oils, Volatile (pharmacology)
• Plant Oils (pharmacology)
• Spatial Memory (drug effects)