鄭菡若老師 神經系統疾病實驗室

Potential treatment for AD

Until now, there is no effect approach to treat or prevent AD. We are testing several different approaches to examine their ability to improve the deficits in APP transgenic mice.

 

Caffeine

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a chronic neurodegenerative disorder associated with the abnormal accumulations of amyloid β (Aβ) peptide and oxidative stress in the brain, is the most common form of dementia among the elderly. We found that the crude caffeine, a major by-product of the decaffeination of coffee, has potent hydrophilic antioxidant activity and may contain prophylactic agents against the cell death and the memory impairment in AD.

(本計畫與 Kraft Foods Group 合作)

 

Curucmin

The mechanism for Alzheimer’s disease is still unknown; several hypotheses try to explain the cause of Alzheimer’s, and one of them is neuroinflammation. Curucmin has been reported that can reduce amyloid plaques deposition in different models. Although evidences showed potentially protective effects, one clinical trial in 2012 was failed arising from poor bioavailability and poor ability to repress Aβ level in AD patients. Here, we collaborated with Taiwan Food Industry Research and Development Institute; they developed a brand-new mechanical method to minimized curcumin to nanoscale to improve bioavailability. Now we try to decipher the effects of curcumin nanoparticles in several aspects.

(本計畫與工研院食工所合作)

 

Antroquinonol

Aβ-induced oxidative stress and neuroinflammation play an important role in the pathogenesis of AD. Antroquinonol, a ubiquinone derivative isolated from Antrodia camphorata, has been shown to reduce oxidative stress and inflammatory cytokines via activating the nuclear transcription factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway. We found two months of antroquinonol consumption improved learning and memory in the Morris water maze test, reduced hippocampal Aβ levels, and reduced the degree of astrogliosis. These effects may be mediated through the enhancement of Nrf2 and the reduction in histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) levels that we also observed. These findings suggest that antroquinonol could have beneficial effects in AD models.

(本計畫與國鼎生技合作)

 

Synbiotics

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that impairs multiple memory domains without an effective prevention or treatment approach. Amyloid plaque-induced neuroinflammation exacerbates neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment in AD. To reduce neuroinflammation, we applied prebiotics or synbiotics to modulate the gut-brain axis in the AD mouse model. AD-like deficits were reduced in mice treated with synbiotics, suggesting that dietary modulation of the gut-brain axis is a potential approach to delay AD progression.

(本計畫與維他露食品合作)