Birch bark compound eases Alzheimer's damage by boosting cell defenses
Dai C, Yang Y, Lin X, Xiang K, Zhuo L
Medicinal Plants
The papery white bark peeling off birch trees in your yard contains a molecule that researchers just linked to protecting brain cells from the kind of damage seen in Alzheimer's disease.
Betulin is a natural substance found in the bark of birch trees and several other plants, and it's known for fighting oxidative damage in cells. In this study, mice engineered to develop Alzheimer's-like symptoms did better on memory tests and had less brain damage after being fed betulin for four weeks. The compound works by attaching to a protein called KEAP1, which frees up another protein, NRF2, to switch on the body's own antioxidant machinery.
Key Findings
Betulin treatment for 4 weeks improved cognitive function and reduced amyloid-beta plaques and tau phosphorylation in APP/PS1 Alzheimer's model mice.
Betulin increased antioxidant markers (GSH, HO-1, SOD2, GPX4) while decreasing oxidative stress markers (ROS, MDA).
Molecular docking and mutant transfection experiments confirmed betulin binds KEAP1, releasing NRF2 to activate downstream antioxidant gene expression.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A compound extracted from birch bark called betulin reduced brain oxidative damage and improved memory in mice bred to develop Alzheimer's-like disease, by switching on a natural antioxidant defense pathway in cells.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Betulin supplementation reduces oxidative stress in Alzheimer's disease via the activation of KEAP1/NRF2 pathway.
Betulin (BE) is extracted from pentacyclic triterpenoids of many natural plants and has antioxidation activities. However, the neuroprotective effects and underlying mechanism of Betulin in Alzheim...
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A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus Betula, in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus Betula contains 30 to 60 known taxa of which 11 are on the IUCN 2011 Red List of Thr...