Paeonol attenuates neurotoxicity and ameliorates cognitive impairment induced by d-galactose in ICR mice

In the present study, we examined the supplementation of paeonol extracted from Moutan cortex of Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews (MC) or the root of Paeonia lactiflora Pall (PL) on reducing oxidative stress, cognitive impairment and neurotoxicity in d-galactose (D-gal)-induced aging mice. The ICR mice were subcutaneously injected with D-gal (50 mg/(kg day)) for 60 days and administered with paeonol (50, 100 mg/(kg day)) simultaneously. The results showed that paeonol significantly improved the learning and memory ability in Morris water maze test and step-down passive avoidance test in D-gal-treated mice. Further investigation showed that the effect of paeonol on improvement of cognitive deficit was related to its ability to inhibit the biochemical changes in brains of D-gal-treated mice. Paeonol increased acetylcholine (Ach) and glutathione (GSH) levels, restored superoxide dismutase (SOD) and Na(+), K(+)-adenosine triphosphatase (Na(+), K(+)-ATPase) activities, but decreased cholinesterase AChe activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) level in D-gal-treated mice. Furthermore, paeonol ameliorated neuronal damage in both hippocampus and temporal cortex in D-gal-treated mice. These results suggest that paeonol possesses anti-aging efficacy and may have potential in treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.