Silymarin attenuates senescence-exacerbated amyloidogenesis, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress in lipopolysaccharide-induced memory impairment in aging mice.

Authors

Bienose S Chijioke, Benneth Ben-Azu, Daniel T Esuku, Miracle K Nekabari, Saviour G Usin, Faith B Friday, Prosper Iwhiwhu, Ayereoghene S Moses, Emmanuel O Chidebe, Samuel Nwawuba

Published in

Biogerontology. Volume 27. Issue 4. Jul 13, 2026. Epub Jul 13, 2026.

Abstract

Accelerated cellular perturbations such as cellular senescence, neuroinflammation and oxidative stress are hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, a neurodegenerative disease associated with memory decline. However, the senolytic effects of silymarin, a flavonolignan with known antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, on memory decline remain unknown. Hence, we investigated the effect of silymarin on doxycycline-mediated senescence and exacerbated neuroinflammation in lipopolysaccharide-induced memory-impaired mice. Five groups of adult Swiss female mice (n = 10) were exposed to doxycycline-induced accelerated senescence for 21 days, followed by lipopolysaccharide-induced neuroinflammation from days 15-21, and silymarin (50 and 100 mg/kg, p.o.) or donepezil (1 mg/kg, p.o.) treatments. Spatial and non-spatial memory, and social and motor function tests in mice were assessed. Biochemical assays were performed on the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus to assess senescence-associated secretory phenotypes (SASPs), including SA-β-galactosidase activity, cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10), amyloid-beta levels, acetylcholinesterase activity, oxidative stress markers, and molybdoenzymes. Doxycycline-lipopolysaccharide-exacerbated memory impairments were reversed by silymarin, accompanied by reduced molybdoenzymes, malondialdehyde, nitrite, and elevated antioxidants (glutathione, superoxide-dismutase, catalase) in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Additionally, silymarin reverses doxycycline-exacerbated lipopolysaccharide-induced increases in IL-6 and TNF-α release and myeloperoxidase activity while also reducing IL-10 levels. Similar to donepezil, silymarin reduced heightened acetylcholinesterase activity associated with doxycycline-enhanced lipopolysaccharide-induced accumulation of cortical SA-β-galactosidase and amyloid-β levels, relative to the doxycycline-lipopolysaccharide group. These findings suggest that silymarin ameliorates doxycycline-lipopolysaccharide-exacerbated memory impairment and modulates senescence and neuroinflammation by reducing oxidative stress, SASP marker levels, and amyloid-beta concentrations in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of mouse brains.

PMID:
42440182
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 13 Jul 2026.

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