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Synergic Effects of Berberine and Curcumin on Improving Cognitive Function in an Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model

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Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases, and no effective therapies have been found to prevent or cure AD to date. Berberine and curcumin are extracts from traditional Chinese herbs that have a long history of clinical benefits for AD. Here, using a transgenic AD mouse model, we found that the combined berberine and curcumin treatment had a much better effect on improving the cognitive function of mice than the single-drug treatment, suggesting synergic effects of the combined berberine and curcumin treatment. In addition, we found that the combined berberine and curcumin treatment had significant synergic effects on reducing soluble amyloid-β-peptide(1–42) production. Furthermore, the combination treatment also had remarkable synergic effects on decreasing inflammatory responses and oxidative stress in both the cortex and hippocampus of AD mice. We also found that the combination treatment performed much better than the single drugs in reducing the APP and BACE1 levels and increasing AMPKα phosphorylation and cell autophagy, which might be the underlying mechanism of the synergic effects. Taken together, the result of this study reveal the synergic effects and potential underlying mechanisms of the combined berberine and curcumin treatment in improving the symptoms of AD in mice. This study sheds light on a new strategy for exploring new phytotherapies for AD and also emphasizes that more research should focus on the synergic effects of herbal drugs in the future.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the soft science of the Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Department (No. 18Z081), Sichuan Traditional Chinese Medicine Administration (No. 2018KF016), and Sichuan Health Services Subsidy Project 2017.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Affiliated Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, 610300, Sichuan, China

    Maoquan Li

  2. Chengdu Qingbaijiang District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Chengdu, 610300, Sichuan, China

    Maoquan Li

  3. Department of Public Health, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, 610500, Sichuan, China

    Cheng Li & Maoquan Li

  4. Collaborative Innovation Center of Sichuan for Elderly Care and Health, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, 610500, Sichuan, China

    Lin Lin

  5. Department of Anesthesiology, Mianyang People’s Hospital, Mianyang, 621000, Sichuan, China

    Deyi Zhang

  6. Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Mianyang People’s Hospital, Mianyang, 621000, Sichuan, China

    Mingxiang Yuan

  7. Department of Occupational Health, Amy Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China

    Chun-hai Chen

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  1. Lin Lin
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  2. Cheng Li
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  3. Deyi Zhang
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  5. Chun-hai Chen
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11064_2020_2992_MOESM1_ESM.tif

Supplementary file1 Figure S1. Berberine and curcumin combination treatment does not cause significant injury in the liver (A) or kidneys (B) as detected by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. Scale bar: 40μm. (TIF 5357 kb)

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Lin, L., Li, C., Zhang, D. et al. Synergic Effects of Berberine and Curcumin on Improving Cognitive Function in an Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model. Neurochem Res 45, 1130–1141 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-020-02992-6

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