Olfactory stimulation from edible and medicinal homologous essential oils improves Aβ-induced cognitive impairment by regulating oxidative stress and synaptic function

Abstract

High levels of Aβ accumulation leads to hippocampal damage, resulting in impaired oxidative stress responses and synaptic function, and ultimately cognitive impairment. Here, we investigated the effects of olfactory stimuli on Aβ1-42-induced AD models using an essential oil containing drug-food congeners. Through behavioral experiments, we found that the learning and memory ability of rats was affected to a certain extent after the injection of Aβ1-42 into the lateral ventricle, and the olfactory stimulation could improve the cognitive impairment caused by Aβ1-42. In addition, we applied network pharmacology to predict multiple possible anti-AD mechanisms based on the composition of essential oils used as olfactory stimuli. We selected the effects of olfactory stimuli on oxidative stress response and synaptic function, and found that Nrf2 signaling pathway and NMDAR/PSD95/nNOS signaling pathway were activated. Our results suggest that olfactory stimulation holds promise as a treatment for cognitive impairment.