Development of Wolfberry as Herbal Medicine to Modulate Systemic Inflammation and Neuroinflammation for Alzheimer's Disease
Grant Data
Project Title
Development of Wolfberry as Herbal Medicine to Modulate Systemic Inflammation and Neuroinflammation for Alzheimer's Disease
Principal Investigator
Dr Chiu, Kin
(Project Coordinator (PC))
Co-Investigator(s)
Professor Chan Hin Lee Henry
(Co-Investigator)
Dr Tse YanYin
(Co-Investigator)
Professor To Chi-Ho
(Co-Investigator)
Dr Lam Tai Chung
(Co-Investigator)
Emeritus Professor So Kwok Fai
(Co-Investigator)
Professor Lai Jimmy Shiu Ming
(Co-Investigator)
Dr Mak Henry Ka Fung
(Co-Investigator)
Dr Hu Yong
(Co-Investigator)
Dr Chang Raymond Chuen Chung
(Co-Investigator)
Duration
11
Start Date
2019-04-15
Amount
248933
Conference Title
Development of Wolfberry as Herbal Medicine to Modulate Systemic Inflammation and Neuroinflammation for Alzheimer's Disease
Presentation Title
Keywords
Alzheimer's Disease, Herbal Medicine, Modulate Systemic Inflammation, Neuroinflammation, Wolfberry
Discipline
Chinese Medicine (clinical)
HKU Project Code
InP/093/19
Grant Type
Innovation and Technology Fund Internship Programme
Funding Year
2017
Status
Completed
Objectives
Wolfberry, also known as Lycium barbarum (LB), has been used as a preventative and curative Chinese medicine in various forms for thousands of years. Various components of LB have been isolated and appear to have neuroprotective effects in various disease models. These include protection of neuronal cells against amyloid-beta neurotoxicity while also enhancing cognitive function in a transgenic fruit fly Alzheimer's disease (AD) model. The purpose of this investigation is to study the effects of LB extract on systemic and local (brain and retina) glial cell activation and inflammation during AD pathogenesis. It will be the first to innovatively address the mechanism of LB extract using the retina as a proxy for the brain using in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro techniques in conjunction with behavioral, functional, histopathological, and gene expression/biomarker/cytokine analyses. This proposed study will determine the use of this naturopathic compound to enhance not only the visual experience for the patient, but also their quality of life. Furthermore, this project will also provide further evidence of the effectiveness of using the retina to study cognitive diseases, potentiating the use of retinal checkups during AD diagnosis/treatment and enhancing patient care.