title: The effects of BR003 on memory and cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus of rat hippocampus.
abstract: BR003 is a multi-herbal formula that contains twelve medicinal herbs. We investigated the effects of oral administration of BR003 to Wistar rats on (a) learning and memory using a passive avoidance test and (b) cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus using immunohistochemical analysis of 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) expression. In the passive avoidance test, the retention time of the BR003-treated group was significantly longer than that of the control group (182.64+/-39.88 vs. 73.08+/-29.30 s, respectively; n=11; p<0.05). There were significantly more BrdU-immunoreactive cells in the DG in the BR003-treated group than in the control group (1281.07+/-151.16 vs. 818.01+/-132.98 cells per DG, respectively; n=11; p<0.05). These results suggest that the administration of BR003 not only improves learning and memory but also increases cell proliferation in the DG of the rat hippocampus.
authors.affiliation: College of Oriental Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Myung Sook
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Chan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Youngbuhm
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huh
authors.forename: Hong-Yeoul
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hocheol
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyung-Min
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyunsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: Duk Kyun
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Wan-Su
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Seong Kyu
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000963:Antimetabolites / Q000494:pharmacology; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine / Q000494:pharmacology; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013268:Stimulation, Chemical
chemical_list: D000963:Antimetabolites; C510428:BR003 compound; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D018697:Nootropic Agents; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine