<i>Caesalpinia sappan</i> L. Ameliorates Scopolamine-Induced Memory Deficits in Mice via the cAMP/PKA/CREB/BDNF Pathway

Abstract

Memory is an essential aspect of human cognition. A decrease in this aspect is well associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The development of a novel cognitive enhancer (CE) may help overcome AD-related problems. In this study, we evaluated the CE effect of Caesalpinia sappan L. (CS) in memory deficit mice. Administration of its ethanolic extract (250 and 500 mg/kg body weight (BW)) and brazilin (5 and 10 mg/kg BW) ameliorated the scopolamine-amnesic effect, as evidenced by significant decreases (p p p p p p p < 0.05) the expression level of pCREB and BDNF in the hippocampus. These findings indicate that CS activates the cAMP/PKA/CREB/BDNF pathway. Taken together, our results demonstrate that CS is a promising herb that could be developed as a CE agent.

Keywords

• brazilin
• <i>Caesalpinia sappan</i> L.
• cognitive enhancer
• cognitive impairment
• learning and memory
• signaling pathway