The neuroprotective effects of Nokyongdaebo-tang(Lurongdabutang) treatment in pathological Alzheimer's disease model of neural tissues

Objectives : Alzheimer's disease(AD) is the most common form of dementia, which is characterized by progressive deterioration of memory and higher cortical functions that ultimately results in total degradation of intellectual and mental activities. Nokyongdaebo-tang(Lurongdabutang) has been usually used for the treatment for the deficiency syndrome dementia and amnesia. This experiment was designed to investigate the effect of the Nokyongdaebo-tang(Lurongdabutang) hot water extract on pathological AD model. Methods : The effects of the Nokyongdaebo-tang(Lurongdabutang) hot water extract on cultured spinal cord cells induced by -amyloid were investigated. The effects of the Nokyongdaebo-tan(Lurongdabutang) hot water extract on the memory deficit mice induced by scopolamine were investigated. Results : 1. -amyloid treatment on cultured spinal cord cells increased both GFAP-staining intensity of astrocytes and caspase 3 immunoreactivity on cultured cells. Then, Nokyongdaebo-tang(Lurongdabutang) treatment reduced the labeling intensity for both GFAP and caspase 3 proteins in culture cells. 2. Scopolamine treatment into mice increased levels of GFAP-positive astrocytes and caspase 3-labeled cells of the hippocampal subfields dentate hilar region, CA3 and CA1 area. In vivo administration of Nokyongdaebo-tang(Lurongdabutang) attenuated labeling intensity for those two proteins in the same hippocampal areas. Similar effects were observed by the treatment of galanthamine, an inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase. Conclusions : This experiment shows that the Nokyongdaebo-tang(Lurongdabutang) may play a protective role in damaged neural tissues. Since neuronal damage seen in degenerative brains such as AD are largely unknown, the current data may provide possible insight into therapeutic strategies for AD treatments. Nokyongdaebo-tang(Lurongdabutang) might be effective for the prevention and treatment of AD.

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