Sohanaki_2016_Biomed.Pharmacother_83_85

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a multifactorial disorder with devastating outcomes and few mostly palliative available therapeutic strategies. Pelargonidin (Pel), an anthocyanin compound, is an estrogen receptor agonist with lower side effects versus estrogen. This study examined neuroprotective effect of Pel on intrahippocampal amyloid beta25-35 (Abeta) rat model of AD. Rats were divided into groups of sham, Abeta, and Pel-pretreated Abeta (10mg/kg; p.o.). Animals underwent Morris water maze (MWM) test in addition to measurement of hippocampal oxidative stress, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Pel pretreatment of Abeta group significantly improved escape latency and distance swum in MWM versus Abeta group and attenuated hippocampal malondialdehyde (MDA) and increased catalase activity with no significant change of nitrite. Meanwhile, Pel improved hippocampal AChE activity and lowered GFAP level with no significant change of iNOS. Our results suggest that Pel could improve Abeta25-35-induced memory deficit through mitigation of oxidative stress, cholinergic dysfunction, and astrocyte reaction.