Abstract
Background:
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia. The drugs introduced for this disease have many side effects and limitations in use, so the production of a suitable herbal medicine to cure AD patients is essential.
Objective:
The aim of this research is to make a magnetic neuropeptide nano shuttle as a targeted carrier for the transfer of quercetin to the brains of AD model rats.
Methods:
In this work, a magnetic quercetin-neuropeptide nanocomposite (MQNPN) was fabricated and administered to the rat’s brain by the shuttle drug of the Margatoxin scorpion venom neuropeptide, and will be a prospect for targeted drug delivery in AD. The MQNPN has been characterized by FTIR, spectroscopy, FE-SEM, XRD, and VSM. Investigations into the efficacy of MQNPN, MTT, and real Time PCR for MAPT and APP genes expression were performed. After 7 days treatment with Fe3O4 (Ctr) and MQNPN treatment in AD rat, superoxide dismutase activity and quercetin in blood serum and brain was detected. Hematoxylin-Eosin staining was applied for histopathological analysis.
Results:
Analysis of data showed that MQNPN increased the activity of superoxide dismutase. The histopathology results of the hippocampal region of AD rats also confirmed their improvement after treatment with MQNPN. MQNPN treatment caused a significant decrease in the relative expression of MAPT and APP genes.
Conclusion:
MQNPN is a suitable carrier for the transfer of quercetin to the rat hippocampus, and has a significant effect in reducing AD symptoms in terms of histopathology, behavioral testing, and changing the expression of AD-related genes.
INTRODUCTION
According to the latest statistics published by the World Health Organization (WHO), dementia is currently the seventh leading cause of death among all diseases and one of the significant causes of disability and dependency among older people globally [1]. Accordingly, today there is a great need to recognize the different dimensions of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and its effective treatment, and much attention has been paid to natural substances of plant origin to treat this disease. Due to its antioxidant properties, quercetin can help reduce the symptoms and improve AD. Despite its many medicinal properties, quercetin has low bioavailability on account of its poor solubility in water and rapid metabolism, and its lack of targeted transfer limits its use [2–5]. Today, nano synthesis techniques can be very helpful in solving this problem. The most fundamental problem in the treatment or detection of diseases of the central nervous system is the passage of drugs or contrast agents through the blood-brain barrier, due to the strong connections of endothelial cells in the capillaries of the brain. Using nanotechnology knowledge, methods, and related tools in the development of treatments of neurological disorders are promising [6–10]. Therefore, to deliver drugs to the central nervous system, using scorpion venom neurotoxins as carriers and carriers along with constructing quercetin and shuttle drug composites can be of great importance [11].
Animal and human streptozotocin is used to model AD in rats [12]. Studies have shown that streptozotocin injection causes the production of flavonoids, the most well-known group of phenolic compounds with strong antioxidant activity found in fruits, vegetables, and other foods [13–15]. The most common flavonoid found in nature appears in many natural foods such as apples, tea, berries, and onions as glycine or carbohydrates [16]. Quercetin is a polyphenol belonging to this class of flavonoids. It has a wide range of health, biological, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immune system regulatory, cardioprotective, and neuroprotective effects [17, 18]. Quercetin’s neuroprotective effects are mainly due to its antioxidant capacity and ability to scavenge free radicals [19]. Studies have also shown that quercetin prevents osteoporosis and can be effective in treating liver damage, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes. Despite the many medicinal properties of quercetin, due to its poor solubility in water and its rapid metabolism, the bioavailability of quercetin is low, and its use is limited [20, 21].
Drug delivery systems engineering has a common border with many sciences, including biomaterial engineering, biology, histology, pharmacy, mathematical analysis, polymer engineering, and so on [22–25]. This field is one of the youngest in modern science yet has brought significant advances and has a major share of research today. With the advancement of science, engineers and researchers in the field of health have achieved very good results regarding the use of drugs. Typically, after taking the drug, a high dose of the drug enters the body, which decreases after a few hours, and the person must retake the drug, and within the next few hours, the amount is reduced, and this cycle continues. With the advancement of technology, new methods have been invented to solve this problem [26]. In these methods, the patient does not receive a high dose of the drug after taking the drug. In fact, after taking the drug, the drug release system begins to secrete a defined dose [27].
The most important nanostructures used as drug carriers in controlled drug release are: fullerenes [28], carbon nanotubes [29], micelles [30], liposomes [31], Nanoshells [32, 33], and dendrimers [34]. The role of magnetic nanoparticles as drug carriers is more prominent due to their unique properties in addition to the usual properties of other nanomaterials. So far, diverse Fe3O4 nanocomposites have been used in drug delivery systems [35–40]. Few studies have explored the construction of quercetin incorporated Fe3O4 nanocomposite for drug administration and achieved successful target drug delivery. However, none of the studies reported the atomic and molecular-level interactions between quercetin and Fe3O4 for successfully constructing of the smart nano-drug shuttle system.
In the present study, for the first time, magnetic quercetin neuropeptide nanocomposite as an innovative nano-drug shuttle system was synthesized and the efficiency of this nanocomposite on the expression of MAPT and APP genes (genes that provides instructions for making proteins called tau and amyloid precursor protein, respectively) in an AD rat model was investigated.
METHODS
Materials and instruments
Quercetin (C15H10O7·2H2O; 97%) and MTT were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Co. Margatoxin was purchased from Peptide Institute (Osaka, Japan). Ferric chloride and ferrous chloride were purchased from Merck Co (Germany) and used as received. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the samples were obtained by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD, D5000 X-ray, Cu-Kα radiation, Siemens (Germany)). The morphology and microstructure of the synthesized samples were examined by a MIRA3 TESCAN Field Emission scanning electron microscope (Czech). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was performed using Bruker VERTEX 80V Model. The magnetic properties of the synthesized magnetic nanoparticles are studied using a Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) (Lakeshore 7403, USA, applied magnetic field sweeping between±15,000 Qe) at 20°C.
Synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles have an attached amine functional group (NH2@MNPs)
The nanocomposite was prepared by in situ chemical reduction-induced assembly in the presence of 3-aminopropylphosphonic acid (NH2-PA). In brief, FeCl2.4H2O (0.1305 mg) and FeCl3.6H2O (0.2690 mg) were diluted in 15 ml H2O. The solution pH was adjusted to 10 using NaOH aqueous solution. After that, NH2-PA (0.15 mg) was dispersed in the solution using an ultrasonic bath for 20 min. The mixture was then sonicated for 6 h. Finally, NH2@MNPs particles were gained and washed three times with H2O and dried under air. Similar approach in the absence of NH2-PA was also made to evaluate to compare the characterization with that of NH2@MNPs.
Synthesis of quercetin-neuropeptide functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (MQNPN)
The MQNPN was constructed by mixing of NH2@MNPs (10 mg) dispersion with quercetin (2 mg) and neuropeptide (2 mg) solution in ethanol. The mixture was stirred at 100 rpm. After 10 h reaction, the MQNPN was collected by magnetic separations and washed three times with ethanol. Significantly, in this study, Margatoxin was chosen as a neuropeptide model.
In vivo analysis
In this experiment, 25 adult female rats with an average weight of 250 g were used to establish the AD model and then they were housed in plastic cages maintained in an ideal room temperature under a 12:12-h light: dark cycle.
The following treatments were applied to the AD rat models for 7 days: A) AD Control (without treatment); B) Treatment of 1 cc of nano quercetin (5 nanograms of nano quercetin per day); C) 2 cc treatment (10 nanograms of nano quercetin per day); D) 2 cc nano neuropeptide quercetin treatment (10 ng per day); along with E) healthy control group in three repetitions in the form of a statistical design.
Measurement of quercetin in blood serum and brain
First, rats were injected with 10 ng of quercetin peritoneal for 7 days. Blood samples were taken from the tail area of rats 7 days after the last injection. The studied rats were then killed under anesthesia, and the brain’s hippocampal region was isolated. Hippocampus area of brain of treated rat was prepared after homogenization using 45% ethanol extract and after filtration, and the absorption spectrophotometry was measured at 370 nm. The weight of quercetin in the samples was calculated by regression method obtained with different concentrations of quercetin in phosphate
Y = 0.014+11.13 (A)
Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity analysis
First, EDTA buffer 0.1 M, NACN 3 mM, NBT 1.5 mM, and 0.1 g of brain extract were homogenized in an ice solution of 1 mol/l Tris and sucrose 0.25/l on ice and filtered in a centrifuge at 14000 rpm at –80°C. 0.5 cc of brain solution supernatant was removed and vortexed in the above buffer and incubated at 37°C for 5 min. Then, it was added to the prepared 0.12 mM riboflavin solution which was in 0.067 M potassium phosphate buffer with pH = 7.8 and incubated for 12 min at room temperature and then examined using a 560 nm spectrophotometer.
Histological assessment
Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining was applied for histopathological analysis. To achieve this, specimen (2 mm in diameter and 40–50 mm long) was sampled and immediately placed into formalin for 18 h. Alcohol absorbs water from the tissue in order to dehydrate the tissue. The sample was placed in an alcohol series 50%, 70%, and 90% alcohol and absolute alcohol, respectively. Next, alcohol replaced with xylene and clarification process carried out. After clearing, the samples were placed in a molten paraffin and transferred to an auto technicon tissue processor device. After tissues were embedded in paraffin, a microtome instrument was used to prepare cross-sections of paraffin. Slices were prepared by placing the incisions in the tissue sitz bath. The slides are then deparaffinized and clarified, and after drying, they were studied under a microscope.
Behavioral assessment
After rats had spent their resting time (7 days), they were assessed using behavioral tests with patent No. 139750140003009165 Iran.
Molecular studies
RNA extraction
RNA of rat hippocampus tissue was extracted using the TRIzol method. An appropriate amount of TRIzol and chloroform was added to the treated cells. Then, it was incubated for 20 min in room temperature and centrifuged at 10,000 rpm for 8 min at 4°C. After removing 75% of the bright surface solution and the addition of cold isopropanol solution, the RNA precipitated as a white spot. The quality and quantity of the mRNA were determined using the NanoDrop method (Thermo 2000c, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) at the 260 and 280 nm wavelengths.
Synthesis of cDNA
The cDNA was synthesized using a Qiagen kit and Oligo dT primer. To do so, according to the kit protocol, the kit components were mixed and placed on ice after centrifugation. After mixing 0.001 ml, Oligo dT and 0.002 mg of the RNA template, bring it to a volume of 0.02 ml with DEPS-treated water and heat at 65°C for 5 min. Finally, 0.01 ml of the cDNA synthesis mixture was added to the RNA-Primer mixture and incubated at 42°C for 60 min aftercentrifugation.
Real-time PCR
To evaluate the gene expression quantity, real-time PCR reaction was performed on the constructed cDNA using SYBR Green (Sinaclon, Tehran, Iran) method using gene-specific primers. For this purpose, 10μL of SYBR Green 1× and 1μL of cDNA and 0.7μL of reverse primer were used. Primer design was performed with Primer3 software for the desired genes and the primers as shown in Table 1. Relative analysis at the mRNA level was performed with three replicates using the Pfaffian method with e–ΔΔct compared with the GAPDH housekeeping gene.
Primers required for Real-Time PCR
Statistical analysis
The results obtained from MTT and SOD tests were analyzed by ANOVA in SPSS V 21 and the mean comparison was performed by Duncan method at a probability level of 0.05%. T-test was used to analyze data related to gene expression. GAPDH was also considered as internal control.
RESULTS
Characterization of synthesized materials
The FTIR spectra of synthesized Fe3O4, NH2@Fe3O4, and MQNPN are displayed in Fig. 1a–c. As can be seen in this figure, wide vibrations around 3,445 cm–1 are related to the OH groups on the surface of the as-prepared materials. Also, the characteristic peaks at 2,921 cm–1 and 2,868 cm–1 are attributed to C-H stretching vibration. The Peaks of Fe-O bond are seen in 560 cm–1. In this figure, the peaks appearing in 3,391 cm–1 and 1,623 cm–1 are related to the tensile and flexural vibrations of the surface hydroxyl groups, respectively. The wide peak appearing in 3,416 cm–1 and the relatively sharp peak appearing in 1,629 cm–1 are related to the tensile and flexural vibrations of the NH bond, respectively.

FTIR spectra of Fe3O4 (a), NH2@Fe3O4 (b), and MQNPN (c).
X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) of Fe3O4, NH2@Fe3O4, and MQNPN were analyzed in the range of 2θ= 5–80°, and the results are shown in Fig. 2. As can be seen in this figure, all the peaks visible in these patterns correspond to the data reported from the standard XRD pattern (JCPDS card No. 86-2267) and confirm the crystallinity of the nanoparticles. On comparing the unmodified and modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles, from this figure, it was observed that surface modification does not change the structure of the nanomagnet. According to Scherrer equation, the crystallite size of Fe3O4, NH2@Fe3O4, and MQNPN nanoparticles were 23 nm, 25 nm, and 29 nm, respectively, in agreement with the FESEM image.

XRD patterns of Fe3O4 (a), NH2@Fe3O4 (b), and MQNPN (c).
Figure 3a–c shows the FESEM image of Fe3O4, NH2@Fe3O4, and MQNPN with magnifications of 100 nm, respectively. These images show an excellent homogeneous distribution of spherical nanoparticles. Figure 3d shows a TEM image of MQNPN. This image revealed that the nanocomposite is composed of spherical nanoparticles as well as almost all of these nanoparticles are covered with layer of quercetin and margatoxin, deduced from the light coverage surrounded nanoparticles.

FESEM image of Fe3O4 (a), NH2@Fe3O4 (b), and MQNPN (d). TEM image of MQNPN (d).
Magnetic properties of Fe3O4 and MQNPN are shown in Fig. 4. According to the VSM results, the saturation magnetization value of Fe3O4 was around 88 emu g–1. The saturation magnetization (Ms) of the MQNPN is about 78 emu g–1, indicating that this nanocomposite has a good magnetic response in the magnetic field.

Magnetic properties of Fe3O4 (a) and MQNPN (b).
Cell cytotoxicity assay
In order to evaluate the effect of MQNPN on fibroblast cells, concentrations of 0.001 to 2 mg/ml of nanocomposite were evaluated 24 h after treatment (Fig. 5). The results showed that the synthesized nanocomposite at high doses (0.125 mg/ml) is effective on cell survival but has no significant effect at low doses. The number of cells per well was 5,000 and the experiment was performed with two replications.

Dose-dependent effect of MQNPN on fibroblast cell survival for 24 hours after treatment.
Evaluation of apoptosis in fibroblast cells treated with MQNPN
To evaluate apoptosis and its stages, the results of concentrations of 0.063 and 0.065 mg/ml in treatment with fibroblasts after 24 hours were evaluated (Fig. 6). The results showed that no significant effect was shown by the treatment with these nanoparticles in the stages of apoptosis and necrosis.

Results of apoptosis in fibroblast cells treated with MQNPN at a) Low Dose, b) High Dose, and c) Control.
Results of MAPT and APP gene expression in AD rats treated with MQNPN
As can be seen in Fig. 7, gene expression analysis showed that the expression of MAPT and APP genes was significantly increased in AD rat. Also, the results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) (Table 2) for relative expression of MAPT and APP genes showed that the expression of these genes was significantly decreased and affected by the studied treatments.
Results of analysis of variance for expression of MAPT and APP genes in rat hippocampus with different treatments tested. DF, degrees of freedom; MS, means square
**significant in 0.01 probability.

Diagram comparing the relative expression of APP and MAPT genes in different treatments in rat hippocampus compared to healthy control rats. Ctr Alz, control Alzheimer’s disease; Alz, Alzheimer’s disease
Confirmation results of AD
The results confirmed the development of AD in two ways. In the first method, a behavioral testing device was used. Behavioral test was performed using the device being registered under patent number 139750140003009165. In this test, the rats were placed in one part of the baguette and the food was placed in the other part of the baguette. The number of times rats entered the shock area to pick up food was counted using a camera. The result was done with a repetition of 5 rats. A comparison of the three groups in terms of the number of times they enter the electric shock zone over 5 h can be seen in Fig. 8 and Table 3.

The number of rats entering the shock zone in 5 hours.
Results of independent t-test for the number of rats entering the shock zone in 5 h in both healthy and Alzheimer’s disease-induced groups
According to the observations of statistical analysis by t-test, AD-induced rats, entered the shock zone significantly (p < 0.01) more than healthy rats, and this indicates that AD-induced rats have a problem of forgetfulness.
The second method used a standardized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine to confirm that the rats had AD pathology. The results are shown in Fig. 9. Plaque formation in the hippocampus confirms that the rat has AD pathology.
Histopathology of the hippocampus of the AD rats

MRI imaging of a healthy rat brain (a) and AD-induced rat brain (b). Blue arrows indicate the AD plaques.
Figure 10 shows histological studies of the hippocampus in rats before and after treatment. According to this study, neuronal eosinophilia in the hippocampus of AD rats has increased, but the image of treated rats is close to that of healthy rats.

Histopathological results of rat hippocampus using Hematoxylin and Eosin staining. Healthy sample, AD sample, and AD sample after quercetin treatment. Fold = 100×.
Quercetin detection rate in rat serum and brain and transfer rate in brain extract
The chart below shows the detection of quercetin in the serum and brain of rat. The percentage of quercetin transfer in the brain extract of treated rat is also shown in the graph. The results show that quercetin nanoparticles together with margatoxin have the highest transfer rate in rat brain (Fig. 11).

Detection of quercetin in the serum and brain of rat.
Antioxidant activity: SOD (unit per mg of protein)
The results of SOD activity show that the combination of quercetin and margotoxin in the AD rat samples has the highest antioxidant activity, which is normal and similar. Quercetin has high antioxidant activity in the AD rat samples compared to the control group (untreated AD rats) (Fig. 12).

Results of independent t-test for the number of rat entrances to the shock zone in 5 hours in both healthy and AD-induced groups.
Cell cytotoxicity assay
MTT Test for effect of MQNPN on L929 fibroblastic cells has shown that the MQNPN at low conditions (0 to 125 ng/ml) has no significant effect on the viability of fibroblastic cells. However, the highest inhibition is observed in high concentrations (highest at a concentration of 1000 ng/ml).
Expression of MAPT and APP genes
Changes in the expression of MAPT and APP genes in the brains of AD rats treated with MQNPN were investigated using real-time PCR. The MAPT genes showed a significant decrease after treatment with MQNPN. Also, expression of App gene decreased compared to AD rats, but it did not reach the expression level of a normal rat. However, the APP gene also showed reduced expression at the control level in treatment with MQNPN. Both nano quercetin treatment and nano quercetin neuropeptide margatoxin (MQNPN) increased SOD activity, compared to the AD control treatment in the brain contents, so that this level was significantly higher in MQNPN treatment than healthy control. The amount of quercetin transfer in MQNPN treatment was higher in the hippocampus tissue, which indicates that the drug delivery is more in this way. The results of histopathology and morphology of the hippocampus tissue also confirmed this result, so that the results of flow cytometry in the desired dose confirmed the reduction of AD symptoms, which shows the lack of toxicity for healthy cells. In the same MQNPN treatment, the expression of the studied genes was beneficial for the improvement of AD.
DISCUSSION
In this study, we have fabricated a novel magnetic quercetin-neuropeptide nanocomposite (MQNPN) as smart nano-drug shuttle system. The product has been analyzed using FT-IR, SEM, TEM, XRD, and VSM techniques. The results of the behavioral testing device showed that the AD-induced rats had symptoms of memory loss. Also, MRI results showed the formation of AD plaques in the hippocampus. Histological examination was used to evaluate the effect of these plaques on neurons in the hippocampal region. The results of histopathological examinations in the hippocampus of AD-induced rats showed that tissue changes had occurred in the hippocampus. The mechanism of targeted drug delivery to the brain area using the shuttle containing margatoxin neuropeptide is carried out through sodium potassium channel and PAMPA diffusion. A decrease in neuronal density was observed in the neurons of the hippocampus and heterochromatin (Eosinization), which caused inflammation and its distance was a sign of necrosis or tissue death. These changes were not observed in healthy rats. Finally, changes in the expression of MAPT and APP genes under the influence of AD and MQNPN treatment were investigated. The results showed that the expression of MAPT and APP genes under the influence of AD in the hippocampus of rats was greatly reduced. While there was a large difference in the expression of these genes in healthy rats and AD rats, MQNPN treatment increased the expression level of these genes. Therefore, it can be said that the results indicate a positive and significant effect of MQNPN on the expression of MAPT and APP genes in an AD rat model. The safety of synthesized nanoparticles on mouse fibroblastic cell line has also been investigated. Flow cytometry has also shown that these seam nanoparticles do not affect the induction of apoptosis or necrosis in fibroblastic cells. Histopathological examination also showed that the hippocampal tissue of the brain was repaired with nanoparticles and quercetin and returned to normal. Also, the behavioral model designed in this study showed that in addition to improving molecular markers and histopathological markers, memory behavior also improved in this study. Improving excellent performance in treatment with a potent antioxidant whose important properties have already been studied (quercetin) as well as the use of iron nanoparticles attached to quercetin, a breeder of snake venom, can be promising, because iron nanoparticles are also present in the brain environment and their electromagnetic properties assist the delivery of these nanoparticles.
Footnotes
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thank the Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch Tehran, Iran for financial and other supports.
FUNDING
The authors have no funding to report.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors have no conflict of interest to report.
DATA AVAILABILITY
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
