Detection of anti-AD active ingredients from Huai yam using surface plasmon resonance technology and mechanistic exploration based on ERβ-harmonized inflammation and autophagy

Huai yam is a model of “medicinal and edible homology” plants in China that have been used to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD) for a long time. This study prepared the AD model using 5 × FAD transgenic mice, explore the active ingredients and mechanism of Huai yam on AD using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) ligand fishing technology and biological methods, and provide an experimental basis for the clinical treatment of AD. Yam and affinity component (1-methoxycarbonyl- β -carboline) detected by SPR technology improved cognitive ability and neuronal damage, transformed immune cells from peripheral blood, reduced brain inflammation and apoptosis, and upregulated the levels of autophagy via ER β . Moreover, 1-methoxycarbonyl- β -carboline also regulated metabolic disorders in 5 × FAD transgenic mice. These data provide a further pharmacological basis for the clinical application of Huai yam to prevent AD and help to understand the herbal function and “homology of medicine and food”. • Huai yam had a protective effect on AD by activating ER β signaling. • 1-methoxycarbonyl- β -carboline (anti-AD active ingredients from Huai yam) improved brain damage in AD by harmonizing inflammation and autophagy also via the ER β signaling pathway.