Page 24 - ebook

[D. Medicine/Translational Research] D-12

Long-Term Treatment of Cuban Policosanol Attenuates

Abnormal Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Response via

Amyloid Plaques Reduction in 5xFAD Mice

Jinho Kim¹, Yoo-Hun Suh², Keun-A Chang¹,²,³*

¹Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Gachon University, Incheon 21999, Korea, ²Neuroscience

Research Institute, Gachon University, Incheon 21565, Korea, ³Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine,

Gachon University, Incheon 21999, Korea

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder resulting in cognitive decline or dementia, the
number of patients with AD is continuously increasing. Although a lot of great progress has been made in the

research and development of AD therapeutics, there is no fundamental cure for this disease yet. This study
demonstrated the memory-improving effects of Cuban policosanol (PCO) in 5xFAD mice, which is an animal model

of AD. Following 4-months of treatment with PCO in 5xFAD mice, we found that the number of amyloid plaques
decreased in the brain compared to the vehicle-treated 5xFAD mice. Long-term PCO treatment in 5xFAD mice

resulted in the reduction of gliosis and abnormal inflammatory cytokines level (interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-6, and tumor
necrosis factor [TNF]-α) in the cortex and hippocampus. Levels of lipid peroxide (4-hydroxynonenal [4-HNE]) and
superoxide dismutase (SOD1 and SOD2) levels were also recovered in the brains of PCO-treated 5xFAD mice. Notably,

PCO administration reduced memory deficits in the passive avoidance test, as well as synaptic loss (PSD-95,

synaptophysin) in 5xFAD mice. Collectively, we identified the potential effects of PCO as a useful supplement to
delay or prevent AD progression by inhibiting the formation of Aβ plaques in the brain.