Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an independent risk factor for cognitive impairment. Although the etiology of diabetic cognitive impairment is complex and multifactorial, the hippocampus neuronal apoptosis is recognized as a main cause of diabetes-induced cognitive impairment. 2-Dodecyl-6-methoxycyclohexa-2,5-diene-1,4-dione (DMDD) was purified from the roots of Averrhoa carambola L. Previous research demonstrated that DMDD was safe and effective in delaying some diabetic complications. However, the efficacy of DMDD to ameliorate diabetic cognitive impairment in type 2 diabetes mice has not been reported. In the present study, the behavioral evaluation was performed by Y maze and novel object recognition in db/db mice. Gene expression profiles were detected using mouse lncRNA microarray analysis in the hippocampi of db/db mice. Changes in the neurodegeneration-associated proteins and the apoptosis-related proteins were determined in both db/db mice and high glucose-treated HT22 cells by Western blotting. We observed that DMDD treatment significantly ameliorated the spatial working memory and object recognition memory impairment in db/db mice. Further study showed that neurodegeneration-associated protein tau was decreased after DMDD treatment in the hippocampi of db/db mice. Eleven lncRNAs and four mRNAs including pro-apoptotic gene Hif3a were significantly differently expressed after DMDD treatment in the hippocampi of db/db mice. The expression of Hif3a, cleaved parp, and caspase 3 proteins was significantly increased in the hippocampi of diabetic db/db mice compared with db/m control mice and then decreased after DMDD treatment. Similar beneficial effects of DMDD were observed in HG-treated HT22 cells. These data indicate that DMDD can alleviate cognitive impairment by inhibiting neuronal apoptosis through decreasing the expression of pro-apoptotic protein Hif3a. In conclusion, our study suggests that DMDD has great potential to be a new preventive and therapeutic compound for diabetic cognitive impairment.
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