Resveratrol Attenuates Aβ-Induced Early Hippocampal Neuron Excitability Impairment via Recovery of Function of Potassium Channels.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disease. Amyloid-β (Aβ) is not only the morphological hallmark but also the initiator of the pathology process of AD. As a natural compound found in grapes, resveratrol shows a protective effect on the pathophysiology of AD, but the underlying mechanism is not very clear. This study was to investigate whether resveratrol could attenuate Aβ-induced early impairment in hippocampal neuron excitability and the underlying mechanism. The excitability and voltage-gated potassium currents were examined in rat hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons by using whole-cell patch-clamp technique. It was found that Aβ25-35 increased the excitability of neurons. Resveratrol could reverse the Aβ25-35-induced increase in the frequency of repetitive firing and the spike half-width of action potential (AP). Moreover, resveratrol can attenuate Aβ25-35-induced decreases in transient potassium channel (I A ) and delay rectifier potassium channel (I K(DR)) of neurons. It was also found that resveratrol could decline the increase of protein kinase A (PKA) and inhibit the activation of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway induced by Aβ25-35. The results suggest that resveratrol alleviates Aβ25-35-induced dysfunction in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons via recovery of the function of I A and I K(DR) by inhibiting the increase of PKA and the activation of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.