Foods (Sep 2024)

Inhibition of Amyloid β Accumulation by Protease-Digested Whitebait (Shirasu) in a Murine Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

  • Takahiro Katsuki,
  • Kayako Ogi,
  • Ayaka Kinno,
  • Shingo Kasamatsu,
  • Hideshi Ihara,
  • Hidenobu Sumitani

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13182858
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 18
p. 2858

Abstract

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The number of people with dementia is increasing annually worldwide. Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which accounts for the highest percentage of dementia-causing diseases, remains difficult to cure, and prevention of its onset is important. We aimed to discover new AD-preventive ingredients and investigate the inhibitory effects of ten different species of seafood digests prepared by protease treatment on β-secretase 1 (BACE1) activity. Substantial inhibition of BACE1 activity was observed in five species of seafood, and protease-digested whitebait (WPD) showed the highest inhibitory effect among the ten marine samples. We further examined the potential of WPD as an AD preventive component using a familial AD strain (5xFAD) murine model. The intraperitoneal administration of WPD for 28 days substantially decreased the insoluble amyloid β1–42 content and the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein, a marker of astrogliosis, in the cerebral cortex of the 5xFAD mice. These results strongly suggest that WPD is a novel functional food-derived ingredient with preventive effects against AD.

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