Ibrahim Manar Fouli Gaber, Ali Fatma F, Ali Sayed Fouad El-Sheikh, Shaker Emad S, Mahmoud Hemdan I, Abdellatif Fatma ElZahraa Mohammed, Mokhemer Sahar A
Histology and Cell Biology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, Egypt.
Medical Physiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, Egypt.
J Mol Histol. 2024 Dec 20;56(1):51. doi: 10.1007/s10735-024-10316-z.
Aging is a worldwide socioeconomic burden. Cerebellar aging is an enigma contributing to many behavioral aging disorders, hence is its hindering by prophylactic measurements is a crucial geriatric research target. Red dragon fruit (RDF) is a tropical fruit with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic properties. This study aimed to determine the protective effect of RDF extract against cerebellar aging. Thirty-two male albino rats were randomly allocated into 4 groups: Control, RDF, aged and RDF-aged groups. Aged group revealed structural distortion affecting cerebellar layers including a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in Purkinje cells number and decrease in granular cell layer thickness by comparison to the control and RDF groups. Additionally, distorted capillary endothelium, and defective myelination were noticed. Interestingly, cerebellar active caspase-3, iNOS, MDA and 3-NT and serum TNF-α levels significantly increased with aging by comparison to the control and RDF groups (all P < 0.05). Biochemical analysis revealed a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in cerebellar SOD and serum GSH levels in aged rats. RDF extract remarkably ameliorated most of the neuronal degenerative changes with a significant (P < 0.05) increase in Purkinje cells numbers, and granular cell layer thickness by comparison to the aged group. Furthermore, it resulted in a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in cerebellum expression of active caspase-3, iNOS, MDA, 3-NT, and serum TNF-α levels associated with a significant (P < 0.05) increase in cerebellar SOD and serum GSH levels by comparison to the aged group. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study showing a neuroprotective effect for RDF against cerebellar aging. RDF might be effective in attenuation of age-induced cerebellar degenerative changes through its anti-apoptotic, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
衰老在全球范围内都是一种社会经济负担。小脑衰老仍是一个谜，它导致了许多行为衰老障碍，因此通过预防措施对其进行干预是老年医学研究的一个关键目标。红肉火龙果（RDF）是一种具有抗氧化、抗炎和抗凋亡特性的热带水果。本研究旨在确定RDF提取物对小脑衰老的保护作用。32只雄性白化大鼠被随机分为4组：对照组、RDF组、老龄组和RDF老龄组。与对照组和RDF组相比，老龄组显示出影响小脑各层的结构畸变，包括浦肯野细胞数量显著减少（P < 0.05）以及颗粒细胞层厚度降低。此外，还观察到毛细血管内皮畸变和髓鞘形成缺陷。有趣的是，与对照组和RDF组相比，随着衰老，小脑活性半胱天冬酶-3、诱导型一氧化氮合酶、丙二醛和3-硝基酪氨酸以及血清肿瘤坏死因子-α水平显著升高（均P < 0.05）。生化分析显示老龄大鼠小脑超氧化物歧化酶和血清谷胱甘肽水平显著降低（P < 0.05）。与老龄组相比，RDF提取物显著改善了大多数神经元退行性变化，浦肯野细胞数量和颗粒细胞层厚度显著增加（P < 0.05）。此外，与老龄组相比，它还导致小脑活性半胱天冬酶-3、诱导型一氧化氮合酶、丙二醛、3-硝基酪氨酸的表达以及血清肿瘤坏死因子-α水平显著降低（P < 0.05），同时小脑超氧化物歧化酶和血清谷胱甘肽水平显著升高（P < 0.05）。据我们所知，这是第一项表明RDF对小脑衰老具有神经保护作用的研究。RDF可能通过其抗凋亡、抗氧化和抗炎作用有效地减轻年龄诱导的小脑退行性变化。
