CASP3 and Alzheimer disease: Ruolan Li and colleagues found that hydroxy-α-sanshool increased the expression of P-AKT, P-PI3K, AKT, and Bcl-2 in AD cell models, while reducing the expression of caspase-3 and Bax, thus alleviating apoptosis (Lan, 2021).Lastly, crocetin has been observed to significantly increase the expression levels of PI3K, Akt, and Bcl-2 proteins and mRNA in hippocampal neuron models of AD induced by Aβ25-35, while decreasing the expression of Bax protein and mRNA, thereby inhibiting apoptosis and protecting hippocampal neurons (Yan Y. et al., 2020).