Convolvulus pluricaulis (Shankhapushpi) ameliorates human microtubule-associated protein tau (hMAPτ) induced neurotoxicity in Alzheimer’s disease Drosophila model

•First study on ameliorative effects of Convolvulus pluricaulis root extract on neurotoxicity in Alzheimer’s disease Drosophila model.•C. pluricaulis markedly improves hMAPτ induced locomotor deficits in tauopathy flies.•C. pluricaulis significantly offsets hMAPτ induced early death and extends the lifespan of the Alzheimer’s disease Drosophila.•C. pluricaulis diminishes the level of τ protein in Alzheimer’s disease Drosophila.•C. pluricaulis contains novel antioxidants, which ameliorates the τ-induced oxidative stress in the fly model. Convolvulus pluricaulis (Shankhapushpi) has long been used as traditional herbal medicine in India as nerve tonic. We studied the neuroprotective effects of C. pluricaulis extract (aqueous) against human microtubule-associated protein tau (hMAPτ) induced neurotoxicity in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) Drosophila model. We analysed the lifespan, locomotor activity, τ protein level, reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation (LPO), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activities in 10th, 20th and 30th days old control (wild type), τ control tauopathy Drosophila reared on C. pluricaulis supplemented with regular food or regular standard food. C. pluricaulis significantly offsets hMAPτ induced early death and extends the lifespan and diminishes the level of τ protein in tauopathy Drosophila. C. pluricaulis also enhances the antioxidant enzyme activities and ameliorates the τ-induced oxidative stress and restore the depleted AChE activity in the fly model. This study provides the first evidence that supplementation of C. pluricaulis along with the regular standard food ameliorate the neurotoxic effect of hMAPτ in AD Drosophila model and also reveals that it is a potent neuroprotective agent.