Baicalein promotes the microglia M2 polarization and suppresses apoptosis by targeting HMOX1/PDE4D to alleviate Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that has quickly becoming one of the most expensive, lethal, and burdening diseases of this century. In the past twenty years, hundreds of drugs have been tested while only several have been authorized by FDA for AD treatment, hence, searching for candidate agent with therapeutic potential for AD is imminent. Controlling polarization direction of microglia is crucial in AD therapy. Recent research suggests that baicalein has potential to reduce neuroinflammation and prevent neurodegenerative diseases by affecting microglia, while the specific molecular mechanism of baicalein in regulating microglia in the treatment of AD is still unclear. In this study, we investigated how baicalein affected microglial polarization in AD and potential biological mechanisms. In cell experiments, it was verified that baicalein significantly shifted the BV-2 microglia phenotype from the pro-inflammatory M1 to the anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype, inhibited the microglial apoptosis and pro-inflammatory factors, promoted the microglial Aβ uptake and anti-inflammatory factors after LPS stimulated. In APP/PS1 mice, it was found that baicalein decreased the Aβ plaque deposition in brain, attenuated NLRP3 inflammasome activation and neuronal apoptosis in APP/PS1 mice. Furthermore, bioinformatics analysis and experiment validated that HMOX1 is a target of baicalein, and we elucidated that baicalein modulated the microglial polarization to inhibit neuroinflammation and neural injury through targeting on the HMOX1/PDE4D axis in AD. In conclusion, our findings indicate the therapeutic effect of baicalein for AD, and baicalein might serve a potential agent for AD treatment.