title: Prolonged oral administration of Gastrodia elata extract improves spatial learning and memory of scopolamine-treated rats.
abstract: Gastrodia elata (GE) is traditionally used for treatment of various disorders including neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. To investigate the neuroprotective effect of GE, amyloid-β peptide (Aβ)-treated PC12 cells were cultured with GE aqueous extract. In vitro assay demonstrated that 50 µM of pre-aggregated Aβ was lethal to about a half portion of PC12 cells and that Aβ aggregate-induced cell death was significantly decreased with GE treatment at ≤10 mg/mL in a dose-dependent manner. To further examine in vivo cognitive-improving effects, an artificial amnesic animal model, scopolamine-injected Sprague-Dawley rats, were orally administered the extract for 6 weeks followed by behavioral tests (the passive avoidance test and Morris water maze test). The results showed that an acute treatment with scopolamine (1 mg/kg of body weight) effectively induced memory impairment in normal rats and that the learning and memory capability of scopolamine-treated rats improved after prolonged administration of GE extract (50, 250 and 500 mg/kg of body weight for 6 weeks). These findings suggest that a GE regimen may potentially ameliorate learning and memory deficits and/or cognitive impairments caused by neuronal cell death.
authors.affiliation: Huvet Co. Ltd., Iksan, Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Mi
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Huvet Co. Ltd., Iksan, Korea.
authors.forename: Bong-Gun
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Huvet Co. Ltd., Iksan, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Huvet Co. Ltd., Iksan, Korea.
authors.forename: Hong-Geun
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Huvet Co. Ltd., Iksan, Korea.
authors.forename: Yang-Gyu
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Animal Disease Research Unit, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Korea. ; Center for Animal Resources Development, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Korea.
authors.forename: Ok-Jin
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Namyoung Pharm, Muju, Korea.
authors.forename: Lee-Seong
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Namyoung Pharm, Muju, Korea.
authors.forename: Yong-Phill
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Namyoung Pharm, Muju, Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Hyu
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Industrial Development of Biofood Materials, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Korea. ; Department of Food Science and Technology, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Korea.
authors.forename: Yong-Seob
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Industrial Development of Biofood Materials, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Korea. ; Department of Food Science and Technology, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Korea.
authors.forename: Jisun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Huvet Co. Ltd., Iksan, Korea.
authors.forename: Hak-Yong
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: Gastrodia elata; amyloid-β peptide; cognitive-enhancing effect; neuroprotective effect; scopolamine-induced memory impairment