Magnolol effectively ameliorates diabetic peripheral neuropathy in mice

Background: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a common complication of diabetes lacking efficient treatment. Magnolol (MG), a Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor γ (PPARγ) agonist, is a natural product derived from Magnolia officinalis and widely used to treat a variety of diseases as a traditional Chinese medicine and Japanese Kampo medicine.

Purpose: Here, we aimed to investigate the potential of MG in ameliorating DPN-like pathology in mice and decipher the mechanism of MG in treating DPN.

Materials and methods: 12-week-old male streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetic (T1DM) mice and 15-week-old male BKS Cg-m^+/+Lepr db/J (db/db) type 2 diabetic mice (T2DM) were used as DPN mice. MG was administrated (i.p) daily for 4 weeks. Peripheral nerve functions of mice were evaluated by measuring mechanical response latency, thermal response latency and motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV). The mechanisms underlying the amelioration of MG on DPN-like pathology were examined by qRT-PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry assays, and verified in the DPN mice with PPARγ-specific knockdown in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neuron and sciatic nerve tissues by injecting adeno-associated virus (AAV)8-PPARγ-RNAi.

Results: MG promoted DRG neuronal neurite outgrowth and effectively ameliorated neurological dysfunctions in both T1DM and T2DM diabetic mice, including improvement of paw withdrawal threshold, thermal response latency and MNCV. Additionally, MG promoted neurite outgrowth of DRG neurons, protected sciatic nerve myelin sheath structure, and ameliorated foot skin intraepidermal nerve fiber (IENF) density in DPN mice by targeting PPARγ. Mechanism research results indicated that MG improved mitochondrial dysfunction involving PPARγ/MKP-7/JNK/SIRT1/LKB1/AMPK/PGC-1α pathway in DRG neurons, repressed inflammation via PPARγ/NF-κB signaling and inhibited Apoptosis through regulation of PPARγ-mediated Bcl-2 Family proteins in DRG neurons and sciatic nerves.

Conclusions: Our work has detailed the mechanism underlying the amelioration of PPARγ Agonist on DPN-like pathology in mice with MG as a probe, and highlighted the potential of MG in the treatment of DPN.