Walnut (Juglans regia) Peptides Reverse Sleep Deprivation-Induced Memory Impairment in Rat via Alleviating Oxidative Stress

The aim of this study was to determine the neuroprotective effects of walnut protein hydrolysates (WPH) against memory deficits induced by sleep deprivation (SD) in rat and further to identify and characterize the potent neuroprotective peptides against glutamate-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells. Results showed that a remarkable amelioration effect on behavioral performance in Morris water maze test was observed for WPH and its low molecular weight fraction WPHL, especially for WPHL. Additionally, a reduction of antioxidant defence (CAT, GSH-px, and SOD) and an increase of MDA content induced by SD were normalized in brain of rat after oral administration of WPH and WPHL. Then three neuroprotective peptides including GGW, VYY and LLPF were identified from WPHL, which could protect PC12 cells against glutamate-induced apoptosis with relative cell viability of 78.29 ± 3.09%, 80.65 ± 1.74% and 83.97 ± 3.06% respectively, versus glutamate group 48.61 ± 3.99%. The possible mechanism underlying their protective ...