title: Effects of allantoin on cognitive function and hippocampal neurogenesis.
abstract: Allantoin is contained in Nelumbo nucifera (lotus) and a well-known cosmetic ingredient reported to have anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities. In the present study, we investigated whether allantoin affects cognitive function in mice. The subchronic administration of allantoin (1, 3 or 10 mg/kg, for 7 days) significantly increased the latency time measured during the passive avoidance task in scopolamine-induced cholinergic blockade and normal naïve mice. Allantoin treatment (3 or 10 mg/kg, for 7 days) also increased the expression levels of phosphorylated phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), phosphorylated protein kinase B (Akt) and phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β). Doublecortin and 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine immunostaining revealed that allantoin significantly increased the neuronal cell proliferation of immature neurons in the hippocampal dentate gyrus region. In conclusion, allantoin has memory-enhancing effects, and these effects may be partly mediated by the PI3K-Akt-GSK-3β signal pathway. These findings suggest that allantoin has therapeutic potential for the cognitive dysfunctions observed in Alzheimer's disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Kyung Hee East-West Pharmaceutical Research Institute, College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young Je
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Kyung Hee East-West Pharmaceutical Research Institute, College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Se Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Kyung Hee East-West Pharmaceutical Research Institute, College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.affiliation: Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Kyung Hee East-West Pharmaceutical Research Institute, College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyung Eun
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Oriental Pharmaceutical Science, College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Kyung Hee East-West Pharmaceutical Research Institute, College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Ji
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Kyung Hee East-West Pharmaceutical Research Institute, College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Guyoung
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Kyung Hee East-West Pharmaceutical Research Institute, College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Qingtao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Kyung Hee East-West Pharmaceutical Research Institute, College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: dsjang@khu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Dae Sik
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Oriental Pharmaceutical Science, College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Kyung Hee East-West Pharmaceutical Research Institute, College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: jhryu63@khu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jong Hoon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Ryu
mesh_terms: D000481:Allantoin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D000089662:Doublecortin Protein; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology; D008124:Locomotion / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000481:Allantoin; D000089662:Doublecortin Protein; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; C000714847:Dcx protein, mouse
keywords: 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine; AChE; AD; ANOVA; Allantoin; Alzheimer’s disease; Aβ; BrdU; ChAT; DCX; DG; GSK-3β; Hippocampus; LTD; LTP; Learning and memory; Nelumbo nucifera; Neurogenesis; PI3K; SGZ; acetylcholinesterase; amyloid-β; analysis of variance; choline acetyltransferase; dentate gyrus; doublecortin; glycogen synthase kinase-3β; long-term depression; long-term potentiation; phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase; subgranular zone