It is found that the extract of polygala root has the effect of anti dementia

The pharmacological activity of polygalasaponinxxii, a triterpenoid saponin monomer extracted from polygala root, was studied by Chen Naihong, researcher of Institute of medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences The research results recommended by China Association for science and Chinese pharmacology journal recently are of great significance to China's independent research and development of anti Alzheimer's disease drugs With the acceleration of aging population in China, Alzheimer's disease has become a serious social problem At present, there are many disadvantages in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, such as inaccurate curative effect, large side effects and tolerance Therefore, researchers turn their attention to the traditional Chinese medicine with thousands of years of valuable experience, and apply modern scientific methods to find a number of Chinese herbal medicines with the role of wisdom There is a long history of medicinal use of Polygala in China According to Shennong's Materia Medica, it "mainly coughs and reverses injuries It can mend the deficiency, eliminate the evil Qi, benefit the nine orifices, benefit the wisdom, be smart in the eyes and ears, never forget, and strengthen the ambition" In recent years, scholars at home and abroad have carried out in-depth research on the main active ingredient of Polygala tenuifolia saponin, which has become a hot spot of attention in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease However, at present, the anti dementia research of Polygala tenuifolia mostly stays at the level of saponin components, which has a great obstacle for the development of new drugs, in-depth understanding of its mechanism of action and promotion to the world Therefore, it is urgent to find out the effective monomers of Polygala saponins Polygalasaponinxxii is a triterpenoid saponin monomer extracted from the root of Polygala tenuifolia by the Institute of medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences The research team led by researcher Chen Naihong observed the effect of this monomer on learning and memory of mice through behavioral, electrophysiological, immunoblotting, immunofluorescence and other methods, and further explored its mechanism The results showed that the monomer could significantly improve scopolamine induced spatial learning and memory impairment in mice, and significantly enhance hippocampus dependent spatial learning and memory After intraventricular administration, LTP could be induced and synaptic transmission in dentate gyrus of hippocampus could be enhanced, which provided evidence of synaptic model and electrophysiological level for improving cognitive function In addition, the study also proved that polygalasaponinxxii can promote the activation of ERK, CREB and synapsini, which are important proteins involved in learning and memory, in the hippocampus of behavioral training mice and primary hippocampal neurons, further explaining the mechanism of improving learning and memory.