title: Effects of Panax ginseng, Turnera diffusa and Heteropterys tomentosa extracts on hippocampal apoptosis of aged rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To verify if the medicinal plants Panax ginseng C.A. Mey, Turnera diffusa Willd. ex Schult., and Heteropterys tomentosa O. Mach., which are amply used by the population as tonics and cognition enhancers, could have a protective effect on cell death by apoptosis, since this could be one of the mechanisms of action of these substances.
  
  
  METHODS
  Aged male Wistar rats (n = 24) were divided into four groups. Over 30 days, three groups received treatments with hydroalcoholic extracts of the plants, and one group received saline solution. A fifth group with young adult male Wistar rats (n = 4) received saline solution during the same period. Using the TUNEL technique, the percentage of apoptosis in the hippocampus of these animals was evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No differences were observed between the percentage of apoptotic cells in the hippocampus of aged animals and of young control animals. The percentage of apoptosis in the hippocampus of aged animals treated chronically with the extracts from the three plants also did not differ from the percentage of apoptosis in the hippocampus of the control group of aged animals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Treatment with the hydroalcoholic extracts of Panax ginseng, Turnera diffusa, and Heteropterys tomentosa did not influence the apoptosis of the hippocampal cells of aged rats.
authors.forename: Andréia Gomes
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Bezerra
authors.forename: Soraya Soubhi
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Smaili
authors.forename: Guiomar Silva
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: Elisaldo Araújo
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Carlini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D029581:Malpighiaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D005894:Panax / Q000737:chemistry*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D029647:Turnera / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts