Abstract
Numerous studies have suggested that neuropathological changes in schizophrenia may be related to damage to white matter or demyelination. Procyanidin B2, which is a constituent of many fruits such as grapes and strawberries, has various biological activities such as anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor activity, as has been reported. This study aimed to estimate the effects of procyanidin B2 on behavioral impairment and the protection of myelin integrity in a cuprizone-induced schizophrenia model. Mice were exposed to cuprizone (0.2% w/w in chow) for five weeks to induce schizophrenia-like behavioral changes and demyelination. Procyanidin B2 (20 or 100 mg kg−1 day−1) or vehicle was administered orally to mice after withdrawal from cuprizone. Behavioral impairment was detected with an open-field test, a rotarod test and a Morris water maze. Myelin integrity was assessed using LFB staining and MBP expression, including immunofluorescence and western blotting. In addition, enhancements in the expression of HO-1 and NQO1 suggested that procyanidin B2 may regulate oxidative homeostasis via promoting the translation of Nrf2 to the nucleus. Data indicated that procyanidin B2 could mitigate behavioral impairment and protect myelin integrity in the cuprizone-induced model via regulating oxidative stress by activating Nrf2 signaling.
Highlights
Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder with disturbances in emotion, perception, cognition and social function
In the control group the mice were fed with regular chow, but in the other groups the mice were fed with chow containing 0.2% (w/w) cuprizone purchased from Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co., Ltd (Shanghai, China)
The animals were divided into four groups (12 animals per group) according to different treatments as follows: (i) a control group (CON), which was fed with normal chow; (ii) a cuprizone-induced group (CPZ), in which myelin sheaths were damaged in the central nervous system (CNS) a er a diet of chow including 0.2% (w/w) cuprizone, as previously described in the literature;[12] (iii) a group treated with 20 mg kgÀ1 procyanidin B2 (20 mg kgÀ1 PB), which were fed with the same chow with cuprizone toxicity, as well as 20 mg kgÀ1 procyanidin B2; and (iv) a group treated with 100 mg kgÀ1 procyanidin B2 (100 mg kgÀ1 PB), which were administered a diet with 100 mg kgÀ1 procyanidin B2 and cuprizone
Summary
Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder with disturbances in emotion, perception, cognition and social function. Imaging studies suggested that brains in schizophrenia patients exhibited degeneration of oligodendroglial cells and abnormal white matter, which indicated that abnormal white matter may be a potential cause of schizophrenia.[2,7,8] Microarray
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