Dihydromyricetin improves cognitive impairments in D-galactose-induced aging mice through regulating oxidative stress and inhibition of acetylcholinesterase.

Scope. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease with phenomena of cognitive impairments. Oxidative stress and cholinergic system dysfunction are two widely studied pathogenesis of AD. Dihydromyricetin (DMY) is a natural dihydroflavonol with many bioactivities. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the effects of DMY on cognitive impairment in D-galactose (D-gal) induced aging mice. Methods. And Results. Mice are intraperitoneally injected with D-gal for 16 weeks, and DMY is supplemented in drinking water. The results show that DMY significantly improves D-gal-induced cognitive impairments in novel object recognition and Y-maze studies. H & E and TUNEL staining show that DMY could improve histopathological changes and cell apoptosis in mice brain. DMY effectively induces the activities of catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase, and reduces malondialdehyde level in mice brain and liver. Furthermore, DMY reduces cholinergic injury by inhibiting the activity of Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in mice brain. In vitro studies...