Protective Effects of Rosa damascena and Its Active Constituent on Aβ(25–35)-Induced Neuritic Atrophy

Dementia is a clinical syndrome characterized by multiple cognitive deficits and causes progressive neurodegeneration leading eventually to death. The incidence of dementia is increasing worldwide with the increase in ageing population. However, no effective treatment is available yet. It has been hypothesized that drugs activating neurite outgrowth might induce neuronal reconstruction and help in the recovery of brain function. Working on this hypothesis, we recently observed that the chloroform extract of the Rosa damascena significantly induced the neurite outgrowth activity and inhibited the Aβ(25-35)-induced atrophy and cell death. Further workup led the isolation of a very long polyunsaturated fatty acid having molecular formula C(37)H(64)O(2) as an active constituent. The structure of this compound was established by extensive analysis of fragmentations observed in EI-MS mode. The isolated compound protected Aβ(25-35)-induced atrophy and displayed strong neurite outgrowth activity. The length of dendrite in the cells treated with this compound were comparable to those of nerve growth factor (NGF) treated cells.