Ginsenoside Rb1 Promotes Hippocampal Neuronal Neurite Outgrowth: Study

The main pathological changes of Alzheimer's disease (AD) include neurite outgrowth impairment and amyloid-beta protein-induced hippocampal neuronal injury.

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway are the important signaling pathways respectively responsible for regulating synaptic plasticity and neuronal survival.

In view of the fact that ginsenoside Rb1 exhibits anti-aging and anti-dementia effects, Prof. Qionglan Yuan and her team, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China performed a study, in which ginsenoside Rb1 was used, and found that ginsenoside Rb1 promoted hippocampal neuronal neurite outgrowth and protected against neurotoxicity induced by amlyloid-beta (23-25) via a mechanism involving Akt and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 signaling.

Related results were published in Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 9, 2014).

Source: Eurekalert