A novel squaramide compound alleviates cognitive deficits through activation of Akt and Erk1/2 in a rat model of vascular dementia.

A novel squaramide compound alleviates cognitive deficits through activation of Akt and Erk1/2 in a rat model of vascular dementia. J Integr Neurosci. 2019 Dec 30;18(4):401-408 Authors: Yuan M, Zhu H, Chen J, Zhao D, Wan Q, Zhang Z Abstract Vascular dementia is the second most common type of dementia, yet no effective treatment for it exists. Akt and Erk1/2 signaling pathways are involved in neuronal survival. It has been reported that bisperoxovanadium (pyridin-2-squaramide), a novel squaramide compound, protects against cerebral ischemia injury via activation of Akt and Erk1/2. Here, the potential neuroprotective effect of bisperoxovanadium is shown for the first time in a model of vascular dementia induced in 6-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats by two-vessel occlusion injury applied to 6-month-old. Following this lesion, bisperoxovanadium (pyridin-2-squaramide) (1 mg/kg/day) was intragastrically administered for four successive weeks. The Morris water maze test estimated cognitive function. The morphological examination was performed by hematoxylin-eosin staining. Akt and Erk1/2 protein abundance were assessed by Western blot. Results showed that bisperoxovanadium (pyridin-2-squaramide) attenuated not only cognitive dysfunction but also alleviated histopathological changes in rats with vascular dementia. Moreover, bisperoxovanadium (pyridin-2-squaramide) ultimately reduced neuronal apoptosis represented by the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio in ...
Source: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: J Integr Neurosci Source Type: research