Dietary Sargassum fusiforme improves memory and reduces amyloid plaque load in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model.

Activation of liver X receptors (LXRs) by synthetic agonists was found to improve cognition in Alzheimer's disease (AD) mice. However, these LXR agonists induce hypertriglyceridemia and hepatic steatosis, hampering their use in the clinic. We hypothesized that phytosterols as LXR agonists enhance cognition in AD without affecting plasma and hepatic triglycerides.

Antisense-mediated reduction in ADC activity causes minor alterations in the alkaloid profile of cultured hairy roots and regenerated transgenic plants of Nicotiana tabacum.

In species of the genus Nicotiana, as in most plants, the important polyamine precursor putrescine can be derived from the amino acids ornithine and/or arginine via the activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and/or arginine decarboxylase (ADC), respectively. Nicotiana species also utilize putrescine to provide the pyrollidine ring of the defensive alkaloid nicotine and its derivatives. Previous biochemical studies, involving callus tissues cultured in vitro, suggested that the ADC-mediated route to putrescine is used preferentially to provide the putrescine that is utilized for nicotine synthesis in N.