Artemisia amygdalina Upregulates Nrf2 and Protects Neurons Against Oxidative Stress in Alzheimer Disease

Alzheimer disease is a complex neurodegenerative disorder. It is the common form of dementia in elderly people. The etiology of this disease is multifactorial, pathologically it is accompanied with accumulation of amyloid betaand neurofibrillary tangles. Accumulation of amyloid betaand mitochondrial dysfunction leads to oxidative stress. In this study, neuroprotective effect of Artemisiaamygdalina against H2O2-induced death was studied in differentiated N2a and SH-SY5Ycells. Cells were treated with H2O2 to induce toxicity which was attenuated by Artemisiaamygdalina. The nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is an emerging regulator of cellular resistance to oxidants. It controls the basal and induced expression of antioxidant response element-dependent genes. Further, we demonstrated that Artemisiaamygdalina protects neurons through upregulation of Nrf2 pathway. Moreover, reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial membrane potential loss formed by H2O2 was attenuated by Artemisiaamygdalina. Thus, Artemisiaamygdalina may have the possibility to be a therapeutic agent for Alzheimer disease.