Apolar Extracts of St. John’s Wort Alleviate the Effects of β-Amyloid Toxicity in Early Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Hypericum perforatum (St. John’s wort) has been described to be beneficial for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Different extractions have demonstrated efficiency in mice and humans, esp. extracts with a low hypericin and hyperforin content to reduce side effects such as phototoxicity. In order to systematically elucidate the therapeutic effects of H. perforatum extracts with different polarities, APP-transgenic mice were treated with a total ethanol extract (TE), a polar extract obtained from TE, and an apolar supercritical CO2 (scCO2) extract. The scCO2 extract was formulated with silicon dioxide (SiO2) for better oral application. APP-transgenic mice were treated with several extracts (total, polar, apolar) at different concentrations. We established an early treatment paradigm from the age of 40 days until the age of 80 days, starting before the onset of cerebral β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition at 45 days of age. Their effects on intracerebral soluble and insoluble Aβ were analyzed using biochemical analyses. Our study confirms that the scCO2H. perforatum formulation shows better biological activity against Aβ-related pathological effects than the TE or polar extracts. Clinically, the treatment resulted in a dose-dependent improvement in food intake with augmentation of the body weight, and, biochemically, it resulted in a significant reduction in both soluble and insoluble Aβ (−27% and −25%, respectively). We therefore recommend apolar H. perforatum extracts for the early oral treatment of patients with mild cognitive impairment or early AD.