title: Yokukansan, a traditional Japanese medicine, ameliorates memory disturbance and abnormal social interaction with anti-aggregation effect of cerebral amyloid β proteins in amyloid precursor protein transgenic mice.
abstract: The deposition of amyloid β protein (Aβ) is a consistent pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains. Therefore, inhibition of Aβ aggregation in the brain is an attractive therapeutic and preventive strategy in the development of disease-modifying drugs for AD. An in vitro study demonstrated that yokukansan (YKS), a traditional Japanese medicine, inhibited Aβ aggregation in a concentration-dependent manner. An in vivo study demonstrated that YKS and Uncaria hook (UH), a constituent of YKS, prevented the accumulation of cerebral Aβ. YKS also improved the memory disturbance and abnormal social interaction such as increased aggressive behavior and decreased social behavior in amyloid precursor protein transgenic mice. These results suggest that YKS is likely to be a potent and novel therapeutic agent to prevent and/or treat AD, and that this may be attributed to UH.
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Asian Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8574, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takayama
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tabuchi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sekiguchi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ikarashi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kudo
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kase
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yaegashi
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008518:Medicine, East Asian Traditional; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology; D010946:Plants, Medicinal
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; C524644:Yi-Gan San