The effects of BR003 on memory and cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus of rat hippocampus.
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.
Oh
Myung Sook
MS
College of Oriental Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, Korea.
Park
Chan
C
Huh
Youngbuhm
Y
Kim
Hong-Yeoul
HY
Kim
Hocheol
H
Kim
Hyung-Min
HM
Bae
Hyunsu
H
Ahn
Duk Kyun
DK
Park
Wan-Su
WS
Park
Seong Kyu
SK
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
D000963:Antimetabolites; C510428:BR003 compound; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D018697:Nootropic Agents; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine