title: Water-soluble ginseng oligosaccharides protect against scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment by functioning as an antineuroinflammatory agent.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Panax ginseng root is used in traditional oriental medicine for human health. Its main active components such as saponins and polysaccharides have been widely evaluated for treating diseases, but secondary active components such as oligosaccharides have been rarely studied. This study aimed to assess the impact of water-soluble ginseng oligosaccharides (WGOS), which were isolated from the warm-water extract of Panax ginseng root, on scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment in mice and its antineuroinflammatory mechanisms.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated the impact of WGOS on scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment in mice by using Morris water maze and novel object recognition task. We also analyzed the impact of WGOS on scopolamine-induced inflammatory response (e.g., the hyperexpression of proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-6 and astrocyte activation) by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) immunohistochemical staining.
  
  
  RESULTS
  WGOS pretreatment protected against scopolamine-induced learning and memory deficits in the Morris water maze and in the novel object recognition task. Furthermore, WGOS pretreatment downregulated scopolamine-induced hyperexpression of proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 mRNA and astrocyte activation in the hippocampus. These results indicate that WGOS can protect against scopolamine-induced alterations in learning and memory and inflammatory response.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest that WGOS may be beneficial as a medicine or functional food supplement to treat disorders with cognitive deficits and increased inflammation.
authors.affiliation: Physiology Department, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Physiology Department, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Xiangfeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Molecular Epigenetics of Ministry of Education, Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Huali
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Physiology Department, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Physiology Department, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Chunxiao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: antineuroinflammation; astrocyte activation; cognitive impairment; proinflammatory cytokine; water-soluble ginseng oligosaccharide