Protective Effect of Paeoniflorin on Aβ25-35-Induced SH-SY5Y Cell Injury by Preventing Mitochondrial Dysfunction

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a major neurodegenerative brain disorder affecting about 14 million people worldwide. Ab-induced cell injury is a crucial cause of neuronal loss in AD, thus the suppression of which might be useful for the treatment of this disease. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of paeoniflorin (PF), a monoterpene glycoside isolated from aqueous extract of Radix Paeoniae Alba, on A beta(25-35)-induced cytotoxicity in SH-SY5Y cells. The results showed PF could attenuate or restore the viability loss, apoptotic increase, and ROS production induced by A beta(25-35) in SH-SY5Y cells. In addition, PF strikingly inhibited A beta(25-35)-induced mitochondrial dysfunction, which includes decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, cytochrome c release and activity of caspase-3 and caspase-9. Therefore, our study provided the first experimental evidence that PF could modulate ROS production and apoptotic mitochondrial pathway in model of neuron injury in vitro and which might provide new insights into its application toward Alzheimer's disease therapy.