The Effect Of Ginseng Ingestion On Learning And Memory Of Mice And Rats

As a kind of common traditional Chinese medicine, ginseng has been applied inclinical use for a long history, and ginseng has almost no side effect at therapeuticdoses. A mass of studies have showed that ginseng has various effects such asexcitement and inhibition of the central nervous system, improve learning andmemory, strengthen the body stress ability, improve the body’s immune function,delaying senescence. Nowdays, pharmacological research of ginseng on learning andmemory is mainly limited to the monomer and the main active component, theresearch of ginseng crude extract has not been reported. In this paper, to explore theeffect of ginseng crude extract(including powder, decoction extract and ethanolextract) on learning and memory of mice and rats by long-term and large quantities ofginseng ingestion, to explore the differences of the ginseng crude extract on learningand memory,and its possible mechanisms, which offers the experimental evidence forthe human ginseng ingestion by ethology, pathology,free radicals and related enzymes and thecholinergic system testing.The experimental results show that:1. Ginseng crude extract (including powder, decoction extract and ethanolextract) on learning and memory of the impairment miceThree batches of mice,140mice in each batch, weighing18to22g,70malemice and70female mice. The mice were divided into11groups randomly: normalcontrol group, model group, ginseng powder low, medium and high dose group (0.25g/kg,0.5g/kg,1.0g/kg): ginseng decoction extract low, medium and high dosegroup(0.1g/kg,0.2g/kg,0.4g/kg) and ginseng ethanol extract low, medium andhigh dose group（0.0816mg/kg、0.1632mg/kg、0.3264mg/kg）. ginseng was givenfor three months by intragastric administration to detect the effect of ingestionginseng crude extracts (including powder, decoction extract and ethanol extract) onlearning and memory of aquired dysmnesia mice, memory consolidation dysmnesiaand memory reappearance disorders caused by scopolamine, nitrites and ethanol withMorris water maze test and step-down test. The experimental of aquired dysmnesia mice caused by scopolamineIn the Morris water maze test,compared with the model group, the latent periodand swimming distance of reaching the platform were toward shorter in the high-doseginseng ethanol extract group, which,however, had no statistically significant on the1stday; Swimming distance was significantly shorter in the ginseng high-dose ethanolextract group on the4thday (P <0.05), while other indexes had not changed; Duringthe first days to the5th day, the latent period, swimming distance, starting angle andswimming speed were not change significantly in groups of ginseng powder low,medium and high-dose, ginseng decoction extract low, medium, andhigh-dose,ginseng ethanol extract low, and medium-dose; the times of crossing theplatform and effective area, distance of the platform area and effectivearea,residence time in the platform area and effective area, the ratio of distance in theplatform area/total distance, the ratio of residence time in the platform area/total time,the ratio of distance in the effective area/total distance, the ratio of residence time inthe effective area/total time of mice did not change significantly in90s On the6thday.The experimental of memory consolidation dysmnesia mice caused by thesodium nitriteCompared with model group, error times and error latency didn’t changesignificantly on the2ndday in the ginseng powder groups, the ginseng decoctionextract groups or the ginseng ethanol extract groups.The experimental of memory reappearance disorders mice caused by ethanolCompared with model group, error times and error latent period had nosignificant change in any groups of the ginseng powder, the ginseng decoction extract,or the ginseng ethanol extract on the2ndday.2. Ginseng crude extract (including powder, decoction extract and ethanolextract) on learning and memory of normal rats140Wistar rats, weighting180~220g,70male rats and70female rats.Randomly divided them into10groups: Normal control group, ginseng powder low,medium and high dose group (0.25g/kg,0.5g/kg,1.0g/kg):ginseng decoction extract low, medium and high dose group(0.1g/kg,0.2g/kg,0.4g/kg) and ginsengethanol extract low, medium and high dose group（0.0816mg/kg、0.1632mg/kg、0.3264mg/kg）. Ginseng was given for three months by intragastric administration,after Morris water maze, Step-down test and Step-through test, pick the brain by killbeheaded and to detect the pathological change and the related biochemical indicators.Ethology：In the Morris water maze test, compared with the normal control group, thedistance in the platform area, residence time on the platform, the ratio of residencetime in the platform area/total time increased significantly in the ginseng ethanolextract low-dose group on the7thday(P<0.05), while other indicators had no obviouschange; Compared with the normal control group, distance in the platform area,residence time on the platform,the ratio of residence time in the platform area/totaltime and the times of crossing the platform increased significantly in the ginsengethanol extract medium-dose group on the7thday(P<0.05), while other indicators hadno obvious change; Compared with the normal control group, the residence time inthe platform area and the ratio of residence time in the platform area/total time tendedto increase without statistical significance in the ginseng ethanol extract high-dosegroup in2min on the7thday, other indicators did not change obviously. Comparedwith the normal control group, there was no statistical significance change in thelatent period,swimming distance,starting angle, swimming speed in the groups ofginseng powder(any dose), ginseng decoction extract (any dose)during the1stday tothe6thday; on the7thday,compared with the normal control,the times of crossing theplatform and effective area, distance in the platform area and in the effective area,residence time in the platform area and in the effective area, the ratio of distance inthe platform area/total distance, the ratio of residence time in the platform area/totaltime, the ratio of distance in the effective area/total distance, and the ratio ofresidence time in the effective area/total time didn’t change in all ginseng groups in2min.In the Step-down test, compared with the normal control group, the error timeswas significantly reduced in the ginseng powder high-dose group on the1stday, while others had no significant change.In the Step-through test, compared with the normal control, error times and errorlatent period had no significant change in any ginseng powder groups, the ginsengdecoction extract groups and the ginseng ethanol extract groups on the2ndday.Pathology:Compared with the normal control, brain tissue had no noticeable pathologicalchange in either of the ginseng powder groups, the ginseng decoction extract groupsor the ginseng ethanol extract groups.Biochemical indicator:Free radicals and related enzymes: Compared with the normal control, the MDAcontent in the brain of the rat had a tendency to reduce but no statistical significancein the groups of ginseng powder high-dose and ginseng decoction extractmedium-dose, other groups had no obvious change. Compared with the normalcontrol, the Na＋-K＋-ATPased activity and Ca2＋-Mg2＋-ATPase activity had noobvious change in any of the groups of ginseng powder, ginseng decoction extractand ginseng ethanol extract. The SOD activity was increased significantly in thegroups of ginseng powder medium-dose, ginseng decoction extract medium andhigh-dose, ginseng ethanol extract low, medium and high-dose(P<0.05or P<0.01),while in the ginseng powder high-dose group and ginseng decoction extract low-dosegroup had a tendency to rise without statistical significance. The CAT activity had noobvious change in the any ginseng groups. The GSH-px activity increasedsignificantly in the groups of ginseng decoction extract high-dose and every dose ofthe ginseng ethanol extract,while the GSH-px activity had no obvious change in othergroups. Cholinergic system: Compared with the normal control, the cholinesteraseactivity increased in the ginseng decoction extract high-dose group and ethanol extractlow-dose group (P<0.05), cholinesterase activity had a tendency to increase withoutstatistically significant in the ginseng powder high-dose group, the cholinesteraseactivity had no obvious change in other groups. Finally, we can come to the conclusion that the ginseng ethanol extract canenhance the learning and memory function by long-term ingestion. the mechanismsmay relate to the free radical reduction.Ginseng powder or decoction extract had nosignificant effect on learning and memory of mice and rats by long-term ingestion.