Enhanced neuroprotection of anthocyanin-loaded PEG-gold nanoparticles against Aβ-induced neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration via the NF-B /JNK/GSK3β signaling pathway.

Amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) are the main hallmarks considered to be associated with neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recently, nanoparticle-based targeted drug delivery approaches have been found to be a useful tool in the neurotherapeutics field. Therefore, we examined and compared the neuroprotective effect of anthocyanins alone and anthocyanin-loaded poly (ethylene glycol)-gold nanoparticles (PEG-AuNPs) in Aβ-injected mouse and in vitro models of AD. We determined that anthocyanins alone or conjugated with PEG-AuNPs (AnPEG-AuNPs) reduced Aβ-induced neuroinflammatory and neuroapoptotic markers via inhibiting the p-JNK/NF-κB/p-GSK3β pathway in both in vivo and in vitro AD models. However, anthocyanins loaded with PEG-AuNPs were more effective compared to anthocyanins alone. Taken together, these results demonstrate that PEG-coated gold anthocyanins nanoparticles could be a new therapeutic agent in the field of nanomedicine to prevent neurodegenerative diseases such as AD.