Department of Biology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Bd. Carol I, No.11, Iasi 700506, Romania.
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, "Gr. T. Popa", 16 University Str., Iasi 700117, Romania.
Phytomedicine. 2018 Aug 1;47:113-120. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2018.04.049. Epub 2018 May 7.
Matricaria chamomilla L. is a medicinal herb traditionally used as the anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiviral, anxiolytic and antidepressant agent. Nevertheless, supporting evidence demonstrated its memory enhancing activity and antioxidant properties.
To investigate the effects of the hydroalcoholic extract of M. chamomilla L. on memory processes in a scopolamine-induced a rat model of amnesia and to reveal its underlying mechanism of action.
The hydroalcoholic extract (25 and 75 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally administered to rats once daily for 7 days, and scopolamine (0.7 mg/kg) was injected 30 min before the behavioral testing to induce memory impairment. The phytochemical composition of the extract was quantified by HPLC/DAD analysis. Y-maze and radial arm-maze tests were employed for memory assessing. Acetylcholinesterase activity was measured in the rat hippocampus. Superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase specific activities along with the total content of reduced glutathione and protein carbonyl and malondialdehyde levels were also measured in the rat hippocampus. qRT-PCR was used to quantify BDNF mRNA and IL1β mRNA expression in the rat hippocampus.
We first identified the chlorogenic acid, apigenin-7-glucoside, rutin, cynaroside, luteolin, apigenin and derivatives of apigenin-7-glucoside as the extract major components. Furthermore, we showed that the extract reversed the scopolamine-induced decreasing of the spontaneous alternation in the Y-maze test and the scopolamine-induced increasing of the working and reference memory errors in the radial arm maze test. Also, the scopolamine-induced alteration of the acetylcholinesterase activity and the oxidant-antioxidant balance in the rat hippocampus was recovered by the treatment with the extract. Finally, we demonstrated that the extract restored the scopolamine-decreased BDNF expression and increased IL1β expression in the rat hippocampus.
These findings suggest that the extract could be a potent neuropharmacological agent against amnesia via modulating cholinergic activity, neuroinflammation and promoting antioxidant action in the rat hippocampus.
母菊（Matricaria chamomilla L.）是一种传统的药用草本植物，具有抗炎、抗菌、抗病毒、抗焦虑和抗抑郁作用。然而，有证据表明其具有增强记忆和抗氧化的特性。
研究母菊的水醇提取物对东莨菪碱诱导的大鼠记忆障碍模型中记忆过程的影响，并揭示其作用机制。
将水醇提取物（25 和 75mg/kg）每天腹腔注射一次，共 7 天，在行为测试前 30 分钟注射东莨菪碱（0.7mg/kg）诱导记忆损伤。采用高效液相色谱法/二极管阵列检测法（HPLC/DAD）分析提取物的化学成分。Y 迷宫和放射臂迷宫实验用于评估记忆。测量大鼠海马乙酰胆碱酯酶活性。还测量了大鼠海马中超氧化物歧化酶、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶和过氧化氢酶的比活性以及还原型谷胱甘肽的总含量、蛋白羰基和丙二醛水平。采用 qRT-PCR 检测大鼠海马中脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）mRNA 和白细胞介素 1β（IL1β）mRNA 的表达。
我们首先鉴定出绿原酸、芹菜素-7-葡萄糖苷、芦丁、金合欢苷、木樨草素、芹菜素及其 7-葡萄糖苷衍生物为提取物的主要成分。此外，我们发现该提取物可逆转东莨菪碱引起的 Y 迷宫试验中自发交替减少和放射臂迷宫试验中工作记忆和参考记忆错误增加。此外，提取物还可恢复东莨菪碱引起的大鼠海马乙酰胆碱酯酶活性和氧化还原平衡改变。最后，我们证明提取物可恢复东莨菪碱引起的大鼠海马中 BDNF 表达降低和 IL1β 表达增加。
这些发现表明，该提取物可能通过调节大鼠海马中的胆碱能活性、神经炎症和促进抗氧化作用，成为一种有效的抗遗忘神经药理学药物。
