title: WSKY, a traditional Chinese decoction, rescues cognitive impairment associated with NMDA receptor antagonism by enhancing BDNF/ERK/CREB signaling.
abstract: Warm‑supplementing kidney yang (WSKY) is an herbal prescription that has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for the treatment of psychiatric conditions. A previous study by our group found that WSKY significantly improved cognitive function of schizophrenia patients. In the present study, the effects of WSKY on cognitive function and their underlying mechanisms were investigated. WSKY was administered to an MK‑801‑induced rat model of chronic schizophrenia for 14 days. Memory performance was assessed using the Morris water maze (MWM) test. The expression of brain‑derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), activation of cAMP response element binding protein (pCREB/CREB) and activation of extracellular signal‑regulated kinase (pERK/ERK) in the hippocampus was detected using western blot analysis. In the acquisition phase of the MWM test, the escape latency was significantly increased in the MK‑801‑treated group compared with the normal control group (P<0.01). Treatment with WSKY for 14 days at doses of 100 or 250 mg/kg rescued this cognitive impairment (P<0.05). In the probe test, 250 mg/kg WSKY treatment increased the time spent in the target quadrant (P<0.05) and number of platform crossings (P<0.01). Western blot analysis demonstrated that the levels of BDNF expression in the hippocampus of rats without behavioral tests were elevated following 14 days of WSKY treatment, and the effect of WSKY treatment on hippocampal BDNF expression was presented in an inverted U‑shaped dose‑response pattern. The pERK1/2 in the hippocampus was significantly enhanced following 100 mg/kg (P<0.01) and 250 mg/kg (P<0.01) WSKY treatment, while only 250 mg/kg WSKY increased the phosphorylation of CREB (P<0.01). The results of the present study indicated that WSKY enhances cognitive performance via the upregulation of BDNF/ERK/CREB signaling, and that WSKY has potential therapeutic implications for cognitive impairment of schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zheng-Hua
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hui-Ling
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhong-Chun
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Ping
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ben-Hong
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Can
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xue-Ping
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jian-Xin
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Gao-Hua
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D010766:Phosphorylation; D051381:Rats; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects*; D065853:Spatial Learning / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases