Baicalein ameliorates cognitive impairment of vascular dementia rats via suppressing neuroinflammation and regulating intestinal microbiota.

Abstract

Neuroinflammation induced by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) plays a crucial role in the pathophysiologic mechanisms of vascular dementia (VD). A growing body of research has found that intestinal microbiota is associated with a variety of central nervous system disorders and that there is a relationship between intestinal microbiota dysbiosis and cognitive dysfunction and inflammatory responses. Baicalein belongs to the class of flavonoids and has a variety of biological functions, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-apoptotic. Baicalein has a significant improvement in memory and learning, and can be used as a potential drug for the protection and treatment of central nervous system disorders. Whether baicalein has an ameliorative effect on cognitive impairment in VD, and whether its mechanism is related to the inhibition of inflammatory response and regulation of intestinal microbiota has not been reported. We used bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO) to establish a VD rat model. Morris water maze (MWM) test showed that baicalein improved cognitive dysfunction in VD rats. We applied HE staining, immunofluorescence and ELISA to observe that baicalein treatment significantly improved CCH-induced neuronal damage in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, and reduced glial cell activation and release of pro-inflammatory factors. Western blot showed that baicalein inhibited the activation of the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway in VD rats. We applied 16 S rDNA sequencing to analyze the composition of the intestinal microbiota. The results showed that baicalein modulated the diversity and composition of the intestinal microbiota, and suppressed the relative abundance of inflammation-associated microbiota in VD rats. In conclusion, this study found that baicalein ameliorated cognitive impairment, attenuated hippocampal inflammatory responses, inhibited the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway, and modulated intestinal microbiota in VD rats.

• Authors: Jiaxi Song, Meixi Li, Ning Kang, Wei Jin, Yining Xiao, Zhe Li, Qianqian Qi, Jiayu Zhang, Yaxin Duan, Xiaoxiao Feng, Peiyuan Lv
• Journal: Brain research bulletin (Brain Res Bull) Vol. 208 Pg. 110888 (Mar 2024) ISSN: 1873-2747 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 38295883 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• baicalein
• NF-kappa B
• Toll-Like Receptor 4
• Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88
• Flavanones

Topics

• Rats
• Animals
• Dementia, Vascular (drug therapy)
• NF-kappa B (metabolism)
• Neuroinflammatory Diseases
• Gastrointestinal Microbiome
• Toll-Like Receptor 4 (metabolism)
• Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88
• Cognitive Dysfunction (drug therapy, metabolism)
• Brain Ischemia (metabolism)
• Flavanones