title: Preliminary evidence that abscisic acid improves spatial memory in rats.
abstract: Abscisic acid (ABA) is a crucial phytohormone that exists in a wide range of animals, including humans, and has multiple bioactivities. As direct derivatives of carotenoids, ABA and retinoic acid (RA) share similar molecular structures, and RA has been reported to improve spatial memory in rodents. To explore the potential effects of ABA on spatial learning and memory in rodents, 20mg/kg ABA was administered to young rats for 6weeks, and its effects on behaviour performance were evaluated through a series of behavioural tests. ABA pharmacokinetic analysis revealed that the exogenous ABA was distributed widely in the rat brain, characterised by rapid absorption and slow elimination. The behavioural tests showed that ABA increased both the duration spent in the target quadrant and the frequency it was entered in the probe test of the Morris water maze (MWM) and decreased the latency to locate the target quadrant. Moreover, ABA decreased the latency to enter the novel arm in the Y-maze test, accompanied by increases in the total entries and distance travelled in the three arms. However, there were no significant differences between the ABA-treated and control rats in the open field test and elevated plus-maze test. These results preliminarily indicate that ABA improves spatial memory in MWM and exploratory activity in Y-maze in young rats.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Diseases, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, Anhui, China.
authors.forename: Cong-Cong
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Diseases, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, Anhui, China; School of Pharmacy, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, Anhui, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Fang
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Diseases, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, Anhui, China. Electronic address: jnzhou@ustc.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jiang-Ning
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D065852:Spatial Memory / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D018697:Nootropic Agents; D000040:Abscisic Acid
keywords: Abscisic acid; Exploratory activity; Pharmacokinetic; Spatial memory