Learning and Memory Enhancing Activity of Polyherbal Formulation on Streptozotocin Induced Memory Impairment in Rats via Reducing Mitochondria–Targeted Cytochrome

Abstract

Introduction: Neurodegenerative diseases and/or brain injury may occur due to mild to severe memory disorders in which Alzheimer's disease (AD) is defined as degradation of neurons and there is no effective therapy or cure for the disease. The intention behind this study was to determine memory enhancing effect of an Ayurvedic polyherbal formulation (PHF) in Streptozotocin-induced memory deficit experimental animal models. Methods: Polyherbal formulation (PHF) was a suspension of three plant extracts i.e. Alpinia galanga, Glycerrhiza glabra and Convolvulus pluricaulis along with other excipients. Different behavioral animal models like Social recognition test (SRT), Morris water maze (MWM) test, Pole climbing test (PCT) and Elevated plus maze (EPM) test were used to evaluate efficacy of Polyherbal formulation (PHF) in learning and memory process of animals. Gene expression was performed by RT-PCR and western blot. Results: Results indicated that time of social recognition during trial 2 (SIT2) was reduced significantly (P<0.01) due to PHF administration. In MWM test, treatment with PHF significantly (P<0.01) reduced [F (4, 20) = 6.9] latency to reach hidden platform from session 3. Similarly, PHF was also found effective in pole climbing test and EPM test. RT-PCR results showed p53 regulates the Bcl-2 family proteins its expression in the given experiment was appreciably reduced in PHF (200mg/kg). NR1, NR2B and GAP-43 proteins leads to reduction of brain cell damage. Conclusion: Thus, PHF may be an effective formulation for learning and memory process against STZ-induced memory impairment. Key words: Alpinia galanga, Glycerrhiza glabra, Convolvulus pluricaulis, Pole climbing test, Elevated plus maze, Social recognition test.