title: PMC-12, a traditional herbal medicine, enhances learning memory and hippocampal neurogenesis in mice.
abstract: The beneficial effects of traditional Korean medicine are recognized during the treatment of neurodegenerative conditions, such as, Alzheimer's disease and neurocognitive dysfunction, and recently, hippocampal neurogenesis has been reported to be associated with memory function. In this study, the authors investigated the beneficial effects of polygonum multiflorum Thunberg complex composition-12 (PMC-12), which is a mixture of four medicinal herbs, that is, Polygonum multiflorum, Polygala tenuifolia, Rehmannia glutinosa, and Acorus gramineus, on hippocampal neurogenesis, learning, and memory in mice. PMC-12 was orally administered to male C57BL/6 mice (5 weeks old) at 100 or 500 mg/kg daily for 2 weeks. PMC-12 administration significantly was found to increase the proliferation of neural progenitor cells and the survival of newly-generated cells in the dentate gyrus. In the Morris water maze test, the latency times of PMC-12 treated mice (100 or 500 mg/kg) were shorter than those of vehicle-control mice. In addition, PMC-12 increased the levels of BDNF, p-CREB, and synaptophysin, which are known to be associated with neural plasticity and hippocampal neurogenesis. These findings suggest PMC-12 enhances hippocampal neurogenesis and neurocognitive function and imply that PMC-12 ameliorates memory impairment and cognitive deficits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Molecular Inflammation Research Center for Aging Intervention, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hee Ra
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Molecular Inflammation Research Center for Aging Intervention, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ju Yeon
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Molecular Inflammation Research Center for Aging Intervention, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yujeong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Molecular Inflammation Research Center for Aging Intervention, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hye Jeong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Chun
authors.affiliation: Department of Horticultural Bioscience, College of Natural Resource and Life Science, Pusan National University, Miryang 626-706, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young Whan
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Divison of Meridian and Structural Medicine, School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan 626-870, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hwa Kyoung
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Divison of Meridian and Structural Medicine, School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan 626-870, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Byung Tae
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan 626-870, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Cheol Min
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Molecular Inflammation Research Center for Aging Intervention, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: neuron@pusan.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jaewon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D055495:Neurogenesis; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D065853:Spatial Learning / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: Brain derived neurotropic factor; Hippocampal neurogenesis; Learning and memory; Polygonum multiflorum