Objective: To study on the effect of acteoside on learning and memory of dementia mice.
Method: Mice were orally administered with acteoside for 10 days. Scopolamine was used to establish the acquired learning disability in mice. Their learning and memory were detected with a behavioral experiment (step-down test). After the behavior test, corticocerebral and hippocampus tissues of mice were detected with biochemical indexes, including GSH-Px, T-SOD, MDA, TChE and contents of protein in brain tissues.
Result: Mice were administered with acteoside for 10 d in advance to alleviate the acquired learning disability induced by scopolamine. Compared with the model group, acteoside increased the latency period in the step-down test and reduced error times. Besides, acteoside increased the activity of GSH-Px, T-SOD, TChE and protein content in their brain tissues, but decreased MDA content.
Conclusion: Acteoside can significantly alleviate the acquired learning disability in mice induced by scopolamine. Its mechanism may be related with its effect of inhibiting the generation of free radicals in mice and improving the function of the central cholinergic system.