Effects of Panax quinquefolius L.-Acorus Tatarinowii on Cognitive Deficits and Brain Morphology of Type 1 Diabetic Rats

Abstract

This study explored the effects of Panax quinquefolius L.-Acorus Tatarinowii (X-S) on learning and memory behaviors and related brain regions in rats with diabetes-associated cognitive decline (DACD). Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ). The DM rats were randomly divided into the DM group and X-S group. Starting at day 7 after the STZ induction, X-S was administered once a day for 113 consecutive days. Morris water maze test was performed to screen the DM rats with and without cognitive impairment at 80 days after the STZ induction. The volume and concentration of gray matter and white matter in the whole brain were analyzed from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data acquired at day 120 after the STZ induction, with a region of interest (ROI)-based method and voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Hippocampal neurons were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE). The results of ROI-based analysis showed that:the volume of left temporal association cortex of the X-S rats decreased significantly (p<0.05), compared with the DACD rats. The VBM results showed that:the volume or concentration of CA1, CA3 and other brain regions increased or decreased in the X-S rats (p<0.005), compared with the DACD rats. The HE staining results showed that:X-S treatment alleviated cell pyknosis of the CA1 and CA3 neurons. It was concluded that X-S treatment has both positive and negative effects on the hippocampus and other brain areas related to learning and memory in the DACD rats.

Keywords

• magnetic resonance imaging (mri)
• panax quinquefolius l.-acorus tatarinowii
• diabetes mellitus
• cognitive decline
• learning and memory behaviors