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Protective roles of N-benzylcinnamide on cortex and hippocampus of aged rat brains

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Abstract

Brain aging has been associated with oxidative stress leading to inflammation and apoptosis. The protective effects and underlying mechanisms of N-benzylcinnamide (PT-3), purified from Piper submultinerve, on brains of 90-week-old Wistar rats were investigated following daily intraperitoneal injection with 1.5 mg of PT-3/kg of body weight for 15 days. PT-3 treatment improved spatial learning and memory of aged rats and caused significant changes in brain frontal cortex, hippocampus, and temporal cortex in parameters associated with oxidative stress (decreased reactive oxygen species production and iNOS and nNOS levels), inflammation (reduced levels of IL-1β and IL-6), apoptosis (reduced levels of Bax and activated caspase-3, and elevated level of Bcl-2), and signaling pathways related to inflammation and apoptosis (decreased amounts of phospho-JNK and -p38, increased phospho-Akt level and no change in phospho-ERK1/2 content) compared to controls. PT-3 treatment also inhibited aged rat brain AChE activity. These results suggest that PT-3 with its intrinsic antioxidant and AChE inhibitory properties has therapeutic potential in ameliorating, in part, age-associated damages to the brain.

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Acknowledgments

This research project was supported by The Thailand Research Fund (TRF) through the Royal Golden Jubilee Ph.D. Program (Grant no. PHD/0354/2550) and the Office of the Higher Education Commission, Ministry of Education, and Mahidol University, Thailand. We are grateful to Prof. Prapon Wilairat, Mahidol University, for critical reading of the manuscript. We thank Ms. Paksinee Klaimala, Ms. Siriporn Leungsuchonkul and Ms. Paphatsara Khunlert, Impact of Pesticide Use subgroup, Pesticide Research group, Agricultural Production Science Research and Development office, Department of Agriculture, Thailand, for helping in the experiments.

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The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Neuroscience, Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Salaya, Nakhonpathom, Thailand

    Wipawan Thangnipon, Nirut Suwanna, Chanati Jantrachotechatchawan & Sukonthar Ngampramuan

  2. Department of Companion Animal Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen, Nakhonpathom, Thailand

    Nirut Suwanna

  3. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand

    Patoomratana Tuchinda

  4. Nakhonsawan Campus, Mahidol University, Amphoe Phayuhakiri, Nakhonsawan, Thailand

    Saksit Nobsathian

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  1. Wipawan Thangnipon
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Correspondence to Wipawan Thangnipon.

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Thangnipon, W., Suwanna, N., Jantrachotechatchawan, C. et al. Protective roles of N-benzylcinnamide on cortex and hippocampus of aged rat brains. Arch. Pharm. Res. 38, 1380–1388 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12272-015-0593-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12272-015-0593-8

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