Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder. It is characterized by the presence of two aberrant structures in the brain, those are, amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, along with neuronal death. Amyloid-beta further exacerbates the metabolic decline and results in cognitive impairments. Because of the favorable antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of Artemisia absinthium (wormwood), this study aimed to evaluate the effects of hydroalcoholic extract of this plant on spatial memory performance, neuronal injury, and apoptosis induced by amyloid-beta. Forty-eight male Wistar rats (220–250 g) were divided into the following groups: 1) control; 2) sham (solvent; ICV); 3) amyloid-beta 1–40 (ICV); and 4) amyloid-beta plus A. absinthium (10, 50, and 100 mg/kg/day; gavage). Congo red and TUNEL staining were performed to investigate the neuronal injury. Also, the Morris water maze (MWM) test was used to evaluate the spatial memory of the experimental groups. The results showed that spatial memory for finding the hidden platform in the MWM task decreased significantly in the amyloid-beta group, compared to the control and sham groups. In contrast, treatment with A. absinthium improved spatial memory dose-dependently and reduced tissue degeneration, amyloid plaques, and apoptosis. It seems that the hydroalcoholic extract of A. absinthium, due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, can effectively reverse spatial memory deficits and reduce amyloid-beta plaques.

阿尔茨海默病是一种神经退行性疾病。其特征是大脑中存在两种异常结构，即淀粉样斑块和神经原纤维缠结，以及神经元死亡。 β-淀粉样蛋白进一步加剧代谢下降并导致认知障碍。由于苦艾具有良好的抗氧化和抗炎活性，本研究旨在评估该植物的水醇提取物对β-淀粉样蛋白诱导的空间记忆性能、神经元损伤和细胞凋亡的影响。将 48 只雄性 Wistar 大鼠（220-250 g）分为以下组：1）对照组； 2) 假手术（溶剂；ICV）； 3) 淀粉样蛋白-β 1-40 (ICV)； 4) β-淀粉样蛋白加苦艾酒（10、50 和 100 毫克/公斤/天；强饲法）。进行刚果红和TUNEL染色以研究神经元损伤。此外，莫里斯水迷宫（MWM）测试用于评估实验组的空间记忆。结果表明，与对照组和假手术组相比，β-淀粉样蛋白组在 MWM 任务中寻找隐藏平台的空间记忆显着下降。相比之下，苦艾酒治疗可剂量依赖性地改善空间记忆，并减少组织变性、淀粉样斑块和细胞凋亡。苦艾酒的水醇提取物由于其抗氧化和抗炎活性，似乎可以有效逆转空间记忆缺陷并减少淀粉样蛋白斑块。