title: Lactulose enhances neuroplasticity to improve cognitive function in early hepatic encephalopathy.
abstract: Lactulose is known to improve cognitive function in patients with early hepatic encephalopathy; however, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated the behavioral and neurochemical effects of lactulose in a rat model of early hepatic encephalopathy induced by carbon tetrachloride. Immunohistochemistry showed that lactulose treatment promoted neurogenesis and increased the number of neurons and astrocytes in the hippocampus. Moreover, lactulose-treated rats showed shorter escape latencies than model rats in the Morris water maze, indicating that lactulose improved the cognitive impairments caused by hepatic encephalopathy. The present findings suggest that lactulose effectively improves cognitive function by enhancing neuroplasticity in a rat model of early hepatic encephalopathy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Dong-Mei
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yan-Yong
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2979-6017
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ping-Ping
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2874-8032
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Zuo
keywords: Morris water maze; NSFC grants; brain injury; cognition; glial fibrillary acidic protein; hepatic encephalopathy; lactulose; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; neurogenesis; neuronal nuclei; neuroplasticity; rats