ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the effects of stress treatment for different time on autonomic behaviors and spatial learning-memory abilities of rats and to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of Chaihu Shugan San(CSS). Methods Seventy-five 8-week-old Wistar rats were randomly divided into blank control group, model control group, and low-, middle-, and high- dose CSS groups, 15 rats in each group. Chronic multi-stress model was set up. The rat body weight in various groups was measured. The autonomic behaviors of rats were observed by open field test, and the abilities of spatial learning-memory of rats were examined by Morris water maze test. Results (1)On modeling day 20, 30, the model control group had lighter body weight than the blank control group (P 0.05). (2)Open field test results showed as follows:Compared with the blank control group, the total distance and central-area distance were shortened (P 0.05). Conclusion The chronic stress may decrease the excitability, reduce autonomic behaviors, and injure spatial learning and memory abilities of rats, the effect being positively correlated with the modeling time. And CSS has an effect on improving the above indexes, in particular the middle-and high-dose of CSS.