Antineurodegenerative activity of microalgae dunaliella salina in rats with alzheimer’s disease

Abstract

Objective: The present study is aimed to investigate the promising action of Dunaliella salina extract as a natural protector against Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and reported to possess a variety of activities, including antioxidant effects due to its ability to create large amount of carotenoids. Methods: D. salina is a type of halophile green microalgae was used in the present study. 50 male rats were used in this study, where aluminum chloride was orally administered to induce AD in a dose of 100 mg/kg, daily for 6 weeks. Al-intoxicated rats treated orally daily with D. salina ethanolic extract for 6 weeks in a dose of 150 mg/kg b.wt., whereas standard anti-Alzheimer drug donepezil tartrate was administered at the dose of 10 mg/kg b.wt./day for 6 consecutive weeks. The anti-Alzheimer properties of D. salina extract were achieved through measuring the calmodulin (CaM) level, paraoxonase 1 (PON1) activity, the antiapoptotic marker (Bcl2), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), the generation of the DNA adducts (8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine [8-OHdG]/2-deoxy guanosine [2-dG]), and alteration in the expression of amyloid precursor protein, β-site APP-cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1), and β-site APP-cleaving enzyme 2 (BACE2) in AD rats. Results: The current results demonstrated that supplementation of AD rats with D. salina extract-enhanced CaM level, and increased PON1 activity, upregulated Bcl2 and BDNF, decreased the levels of DNA adducts (8-OHdG/2-dG), and suppressed the alterations of the expression levels of APP, BACE1, and BACE2-m RNAs as compared with those in AD rats. Conclusion: It could be concluded that the biological activity of D. salina extract might be regulated by 9-cis b-carotene protecting the brain cells from the oxidative stress in AD rats.