Vitamin D-binding protein-loaded PLGA nanoparticles suppress Alzheimer's disease-related pathology in 5XFAD mice

The aggregation and accumulation of amyloid beta (A beta) peptide is believed to be the primary cause of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis. Vitamin D-binding protein (DBP) can attenuate A beta aggregation and accumulation. A biocompatible polymer poly ((D,L)-lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) can be loaded with therapeutic agents and control the rate of their release. In the present study, a PLGA-based drug delivery system was used to examine the therapeutic effects of DBP-PLGA nanoparticles in A beta-overexpressing (5XFAD) mice. DBP was loaded into PLGA nanoparticles and the characteristics of the DBP-PLGA nanoparticles were analyzed. Using a thioflavin-T assay, we observed that DBP-PLGA nanoparticles significantly inhibited A beta aggregation in vitro. In addition, we found that intravenous injection of DBP-PLGA nanoparticles significantly attenuated the A beta accumulation, neuroinflammation, neuronal loss and cognitive dysfunction in the 5XFAD mice. Collectively, our results suggest that DBP-PLGA nanoparticles could be a promising therapeutic candidate for the treatment of AD. (C) 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.