Aurantio-Obtusin Attenuates Aβ-Induced Cognitive Impairment and Synaptic Dysfunction by Suppressing Neuroinflammation...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) features Aβ-driven neuroinflammation and synaptic dysfunction that converge on cognitive decline, underscoring the potential value of multi-target interventions. Aurantio-obtusin (AO), a bioactive anthraquinone from Cassia obtusifolia L., exhibits reported anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities; however, whether AO counteracts Aβ-associated behavioral impairment through coordinated modulation of inflammatory and synaptic alterations remains unclear. Here, we investigated whether AO alleviates Aβ₁₋₄₂-induced cognitive deficits and examined synapse- and inflammation-related molecular correlates. Male C57BL/6 mice received intracerebroventricular Aβ₁₋₄₂ to establish an acute AD-like model and were treated with AO (10 mg/kg/day, oral gavage) for consecutive weeks. The results showed that AO improved spatial learning and memory in the Morris water maze, recognition memory in the novel object recognition test, and working memory in the Y-maze, without affecting spontaneous locomotor activity. Furthermore, AO alleviated synaptic dysfunction by restoring synaptophysin expression and upregulating GAD65, and mitigated neuroinflammation by elevating anti-inflammatory factors (IL-4, IL-10, ARG1) and reducing TNF-α. In vitro experiments confirmed that AO was non-cytotoxic to N2A^APP cells across 0-80 μM, mildly downregulated BACE1 expression, and suppressed the Aβ-induced upregulation of pro-inflammatory mediators (IL-6, iNOS) in BV2 microglial cells. Overall, AO attenuated Aβ_1-42-driven behavioral impairment in parallel with improvements in synapse-associated markers and inflammatory readouts. These findings support further evaluation of AO as a natural compound associated with modulation of Aβ-related neuroinflammatory and synapse-associated alterations.