ABSTRACT
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the leading threat to human health in China, and severe cognitive impairment often occurs in most T2DM patients. Although Sagacious Confucius' Pillow Elixir is a type of classical traditional Chinese medicine for cognitive impairment in clinic, the mechanism has not yet been completely defined. In this study, an experimental model of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) was established by injecting Sprague Dawley (SD) rats with streptozocin (STZ), so as to compare the learning and memory ability, hippocampal neurons pathological changes, beta amyloid protein (A beta) content, degree of Tau protein phosphorylation, blood glucose and insulin level. The results showed that the Sagacious Confucius' Pillow Elixir could improve the learning and memory ability of STZ injected rats, reduce the level of A beta content both in hippocampus and serum, effectively reduce Tau protein phosphorylation degree, and also significantly alleviate hippocampal pathological injury, blood glucose, insulin and other basic indicators. The results showed that Sagacious Confucius' Pillow Elixir can alleviate the hippocampal pathological damage caused by STZ, and is expected to provide a theoretical basis for human T2DM patients in clinical adjuvant therapy.