Many investigations showed that abnormal blood insulin level is associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer′s disease and its clinical manifestation, suggesting that increasing blood insulin level and/or improving insulin sensitivity seem to be helpful for patients with Alzheimer′s disease.

Object To investigate the effects of Heart-benefitting Recipe (HBR) on the histopathological changes of Alzheimer's disease (AD) rats after unilateral amyloid-?_ 25-35 protein (A?_ 25-35 ) injection into the amygdala. Methods The experimental rat models with dementia,spatial learning,and memory impairment were induced by unilateral amyloid ?_ 25-35 protein (A?_ 25-35 ) injection into the amygdala of rats. The spatial learning and memory ability and the function of cholinergic system were observed by the means of Morris water maze and radioligand binding assay. The protein expression of A?_ 1-40 ,AT_8 was estimated with immunohistochemistry. The expression of mRNA related to APP was observed by RT-PCR. Results HBR significantly alleviated the spatial learning and memory impairment induced by A?_ 25-35 and remarkably increased the activity of ChAT and Rt of M-receptor binding sites of these models. The expressions of A?_ 1-40 protein and APP mRNA in cortex and hippocampus of AD rats were decreased remarkably by HBR. The results of immunohistochemistry showed that the expression of hyperphosphorilated tau AT_ 8 in cortex and hippocampus of AD rats was inhibited significantly by HBR. Conclusion HBR can effectively improve the spatial learning and memory impairment,decrease the deposition of A?_ 1-40 ,and alleviate the hyperphos-phorylation of tau of AD rats induced by A?_ 25-35 .

BACKGROUND: Clinically Alzheimer disease (AD) is characterized by obscurity in onset, decline of intelligence, and dysfunctions of behavior and nerve system. The essence of AD is impairment of memory and cognition.OBJECTIVE: To explore the effective mechanism of tiaoxin recipe (TXR)and bushen recipe (BSR) in treating AD.DESIGN: Randomized controlled study.SETTING: Shanghai Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Geriatrics.PARTICIPANTS: Totally 60 AD patients were selected from Shanghai Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Geriatrics from October 1999to January 2000.METHODS: Sixty patients with AD were divided into 3 groups, with 20in each group. The patients in TXR and BSR group took respectively TXR and BSR 10 mL once, 2 times per day. The patients in donepezil (Dp)group took a Dp capsule once a day, h.s (Dp was produced in England Boots Company, 5 mg per capsule). For a course consisted of 12 weeks.The changes of Mini mental state examination (MMSE) score, Activity of Daily Living Scale (ADL) score, neuropsychological testing (NPT) score,including FULD object-memory evaluation (FOM), rapid verbal retrieval (RVR), digit span test (DS) and block design (BD), as well as the overall operational evaluation before and after treatment were analyzed.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Scores of MMSE, ADL, NPT and the overall operational evaluation.RESULTS: Totally 60 patients entered the final analysis. ① MMSE scores in the 3 groups were decreased after treatment as compared with those before treatment (P ＜ 0.01). Total effective rates were 70%, 65% and 75% respectively (P ＞ 0.05). ② ADL scores in the 3 groups were decreased after treatment as compared with those before treatment (P ＜ 0.05or P ＜ 0.01). Total effective rates were 45%, 45% and 40% respectively (P ＞ 0.05). ③ Total effective rates were 70%, 65% and 75% respectively (P ＞ 0.05). ④ Scores of FOM were increased in the TXR and the Dp group after treatment as compared with those before treatment (P ＜ 0.05). RVR scores in the three groups were increased after treatment as compared with tbose before treatment (P ＜ 0.05); DS scores were increased in TXR group and Dp group after treatment as compared with those before treatment (P ＜ 0.05 or P ＜ 0.01); and BD scores in BSR group were increased after treatment as compared with those before treatment (P ＜ 0.05).CONCLUTION: TXR, BSR and Dp can improve cognitive function and daily living ability of AD patients, and TXR and BSR are effective TCM drugs in treating AD.

Objective To discuss the importance of regulatory role of panaxoside Rg1 in Cdk5 in the process of hippocampal neuron radioactive damage protection.Methods Radioactive brain damage in vivo 40 models were built,and divided into 4 groups,including 0 Gy group (short for blank group),pure panaxoside Rg1 preconditioning group (short for control group),30 Gy group (short for model group),and 30Gy + panaxoside Rg1 preconditioning group (short for traditional Chinese medicine group).Hippocampal neurons were separated and trained.Hippocampal neuron apoptosis condition was tested in every group by 4′,6-diamidino2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining method.The p35 and p25 protein expressions were tested with Western blot.Cdk5 was restrained by Cdk5 restrainer roscovitine.Hippocampal neuron damage after Cdk5 blocking-up was observed with changes of X ray in every group.Results Compared with blank group,no significant difference was found in nuclear shrinkage percentage,the number of neuron survival,and the protein expression levels of p35 and p25 in control group ; nuclear shrinkage percentage and the protein expression levels of p35 and p25 were significantly increased and the number of neuron survival was significantly decreased in the model group and traditional Chinese medicine group (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with model group,nuclear shrinkage percentage and the protein expression levels of p35 and p25 were significantly decreased and the number of neuron survival was significantly increased in the traditional Chinese medicine group (P ＜ 0.05).For the addition of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in every group,the nuclear shrinkage percentage was not significantly changed in control group compared with blank group,was significantly increased in model group and traditional Chinese medicine group compared with blank group (P ＜ 0.05),and was significantly decreased in traditional Chinese medicine group compared with model group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Panaxoside Rg1 can reduce neuron apoptosis by controlling Cdk5,and plays a protective role in hippocampal neuron radioactive damage.

Alzheimer disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by its gradual progression. At present, the cause and mechanism of AD are yet unclear, and there is no effective therapy for treating it. With development of global aging, the prevalence rate of AD is increasing. The life quality of elderly people is affected severely by AD that is ultimately life-threatening. Recently, study on treating AD with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has deepened.