六味地黄丸对老年大鼠学习记忆及基底前脑ChAT阳性神经元的影响

The Effect of Liu Wei Di Huang Pills on Aged Rats with the Learning Memory and ChAT Positive Neurons in the Basal Forebrain

目的:观察六味地黄丸对老年大鼠学习记忆及基底前脑乙酰胆碱转移酶﹙ChAT﹚阳性神经元的影响。方法:将清洁级雄性SD大鼠分为青年对照组(3月龄)、老年对照组(24月龄)和老年用药组(24月龄),通过Morris水迷宫实验,比较其学习记忆能力,并运用免疫组织化学方法,检测基底前脑ChAT阳性神经元变化。结果:老年用药组平均逃避潜伏期自第3d起较老年对照组明显缩短,有极显著性差异(P<0.01)。老年用药组基底前脑ChAT阳性细胞数目与老年对照组相比,MSN内有显著性差异(P<0.05);NBM内有极显著性差异(P<0.01);VDB内两组之间无明显差异。结论:六味地黄丸可以改善自然衰老大鼠的空间学习记忆能力,机制可能与其保护基底前脑ChAT阳性神经元,增强中枢胆碱能系统功能有关。

Objective： To study the effect of Liu Wei Di Huang pills on aged rats with the learning memory and ChAT positive neurons. Methods： The SD rats were divided into three groups： healthy young control group （ 3-month-old ） , the natural aging model group （ 24-month-old） and the older treatment group （24-month-old） .It tested the learning and memory capacity with Morris water maze. It detected regional ChAT in cholinergic system with immunohistochemistry. Result： The average escape latency of the elderly was signifi- cantly shorter than the aged control group since the third day, and there was a significant difference（P〈0.01）. Compared with the rats in aged control group, ChAT positive cell count in the basal forebrain MSN of the rats in aged treatment group were increased, and there are significant differences between them（P〈0.05）; in NBM there was a very significant difference between them （P〈0.01）; but in VDB within the basal forebrain, there was no significant difference between the two groups. Conclusion： Liu Wei Di Huang pills can improve the learning and memory impairment symptoms of the natural aging rats, which caused possibly by protecting basal forebrain ChAT posi- tive cortical neurons and enhanced the central cholinergic system function.