Study: Apolipoprotein E mimetic peptide protects against diffuse brain injury

Because the majority of patients with diffuse brain injury are not suitable candidates for surgery, neuroprotective agents are of great importance. Apolipoprotein E exerts a neuroprotective effect against brain injury, but synthetic apolipoprotein E cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, thus limiting its application.It has been reported that apolipoprotein E (138) mimetic peptide can cross the blood-brain barrier in both normal and injured brain. However, its impact on neurological function following diffuse brain injury is still unclear.

Prof. Jianmin Li and team from the Affiliated Hospital of Hebei United University in China conducted a relevant study. These researchers found that apolipoprotein E-derived therapeutic peptide (0.6mg/kg and 1.2mg/kg) improved synaptic stability and improved learning and memory performance after diffuse brain injury. Furthermore, apolipoprotein E mimetic peptide protected against brain injury by reducing oxidative stress, thereby suppressing the ERK1/2-Bax mitochondrial apoptotic pathway and decreasing neuronal death. These results have been published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 5, 2014).