The potential effects of festidinol treatment against the NLRP3 inflammasome and pyroptosis in D-galactose and aluminum chloride-induced Alzheimer's-like pathology in mouse brain.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that causes cognitive and memory decline. Neuroinflammation is currently considered as being an important pathology in AD. NLRP3, the nucleotide-binding and oligomerization (NOD) domain-like receptor (NLR) family pyrin domain (PYD)-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is a critical component of the innate immune response, which plays a key role in the development and progression of AD. Therefore, the NLRP3 inflammasome is one of the target treatments for AD. This study aimed to investigate the effect of festidinol, a flavanol isolated from Dracaena conferta, against NLRP3 inflammasome and blood-brain barrier damage in D-galactose and aluminum chloride-induced mice. The induced mice received D-galactose (150 mg/kg) and aluminum chloride (10 mg/kg) intraperitoneally for 90 days to generate cognitive impairment. Festidinol (30 mg/kg) and donepezil (5 mg/kg) were given by oral gavage for 90 days along with the induction. Then, learning and memory behavior, and molecular and morphological changes in the brain, which related to NLRP3 inflammasome, pyroptosis and the blood-brain barrier were measured. The results indicated that festidinol markedly decreased the escape latency and increased the time in the target quadrant in the Morris water maze test. Furthermore, festidinol significantly decreased the ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1 (Iba-1) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression. Festidinol also markedly decreased the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway, interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), gasdermin-D, N-terminal (GSDMD-N) and caspase-3. Pertinent to the blood-brain barrier, festidinol only decreased tumor necrosis factor-α and matrix metallopeptidase-9, but did not restore the tight junction components. In conclusion, festidinol can restore learning and memory and provide a protective effect against the NLRP3 inflammasome and pyroptosis.