We aim to evaluate the protective role of the central angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor perindopril, compared with the standard reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger tempol, against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cognition impairment and amyloidogenesis in a simulation to Alzheimer's disease (AD). Mice were allocated into a control group, an LPS control group (0.8 mg/kg, i.p., once), a tempol (100 mg/kg/day, p.o., 7 days) treatment group, and two perindopril (0.5 and 1 mg/kg/day, p.o., 7 days) treatment groups. A behavioral study was conducted to evaluate spatial and nonspatial memory in mice, followed by a biochemical study involving assessment of brain levels of Aβ and BDNF as Alzheimer and neuroplasticity markers; tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), nitric oxide end-products (NOx), neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) as inflammatory markers; and superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione reduced (GSH), and nitrotyrosine (NT) as oxido-nitrosative stress markers. Finally, histopathological examination of cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum sections was performed using both routine and special staining. Tempol and perindopril improved spatial and nonspatial memory in mice without affecting locomotor activity; decreased brain Aβ deposition and BDNF depletion; decreased brain TNF-α, NOx, nNOS, iNOS, MDA, and NT levels; and increased brain SOD and GSH contents, parallel to confirmatory histopathological findings. Tempol and perindopril may be promising agents against AD progression via suppression of Aβ deposition and BDNF decline, suppression of TNF-α production, support of brain antioxidant status, and amelioration of oxido-nitrosative stress and NT production.
Keywords: Amyloidogenesis; Brain-derived neurotropic factor; Neuroinflammation; Oxido-nitrosative stress; Perindopril; Tempol.