Gattu M, Boss K L, Terry A V, Buccafusco J J
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta 30912, USA.
Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1997 Aug;57(4):793-9. doi: 10.1016/s0091-3057(96)00391-7.
Celastrus paniculatus (CP), a medicinal plant from India has been reputed to be useful as a pharmaceutical aid for learning and memory. We investigated the effects of the seed oil of CP on the 6 day performance of young adult rats in a navigational memory task-the Morris water maze. Chronic oral (gavage) daily treatment with CP. (50, 200, or 400 mg/kg) for 14 days completely reversed the scopolamine (0.5 mg/kg)-induced task performance deficit. On the other hand, acute treatment (single injection prior to scopolamine treatment) with CP (200 mg/kg) did not significantly reverse the scopolamine-induced impairment in maze performance. Alone, CP produced a slight, but significant improvement in maze performance on the first day of testing. Acute treatment or chronic 14 day treatment with CP resulted in no significant alteration in normal locomotor activity in an open field. Moreover, CP did not alter the scopolamine-induced increases in locomotor activity. Chronic treatment with CP did not alter brain acetylcholinesterase levels and no signs of cholinergic overstimulation were ever noted during or after treatment. Thus, the seed oil of CP, when administered chronically, selectively reversed the impairment in spatial memory produced by acute central muscarinic receptor blockade, supporting the possibility that one or more constituents of the oil may offer cognitive enhancing properties. The neural mechanism underlying the reversal of scopolamine's mnemonic effects by CP is not yet known, but it is not related to an anticholinesterase-like action.
南蛇藤（Celastrus paniculatus，CP）是一种来自印度的药用植物，长期以来一直被认为有助于改善学习和记忆。我们研究了CP种子油对成年幼鼠在导航记忆任务——莫里斯水迷宫中连续6天表现的影响。连续14天每天对大鼠进行CP（50、200或400mg/kg）慢性口服（灌胃）治疗，可完全逆转东莨菪碱（0.5mg/kg）诱导的任务表现缺陷。另一方面，CP（200mg/kg）急性治疗（在东莨菪碱治疗前单次注射）并不能显著逆转东莨菪碱诱导的迷宫表现损伤。单独使用CP时，在测试的第一天可使迷宫表现略有但显著改善。CP急性治疗或连续14天治疗对旷场试验中的正常运动活动无显著影响。此外，CP不会改变东莨菪碱诱导的运动活动增加。CP慢性治疗不会改变脑乙酰胆碱酯酶水平，在治疗期间或治疗后均未发现胆碱能过度刺激的迹象。因此，CP种子油长期给药时，可选择性逆转急性中枢毒蕈碱受体阻断所致的空间记忆损伤，这表明该油中的一种或多种成分可能具有认知增强特性。CP逆转东莨菪碱记忆效应的神经机制尚不清楚，但与抗胆碱酯酶样作用无关。
