Ginsenoside Rd Attenuates Tau Protein Phosphorylation Via the PI3K/AKT/GSK-3β Pathway After Transient Forebrain Ischemia

Phosphorylated tau was found to be regulated after cerebral ischemia and linked to high risk for the development of post-stroke dementia. Our previous study showed that ginsenoside Rd (Rd), one of the main active ingredients in Panax ginseng, decreased tau phosphorylation in Alzheimer model. As an extending study, here we investigated whether Rd could reduce tau phosphorylation and sequential cognition impairment after ischemic stroke. Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to focal cerebral ischemia. The tau phosphorylation of rat brains were analyzed following ischemia by Western blot and animal cognitive functions were examined by Morris water maze and Novel object recognition task. Ischemic insults increased the levels of phosphorylated tau protein at Ser199/202 and PHF-1 sites and caused animal memory deficits. Rd treatment attenuated ischemia-induced enhancement of tau phosphorylation and ameliorated behavior impairment. Furthermore, we revealed that Rd inhibited the activity of Glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK-3 beta), the most important kinase involving tau phosphorylation, but enhanced the activity of protein kinase B (PKB/AKT), a key kinase suppressing GSK-3 beta activity. Moreover, we found that LY294002, an antagonist for phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT signaling pathway, abolished the inhibitory effect of Rd on GSK-3 beta activity and tau phosphorylation. Taken together, our findings provide the first evidence that Rd may reduce cerebral ischemia-induced tau phosphorylation via the PI3K/AKT/GSK-3 beta pathway.