Effect of venlafaxine on learning and memory in rats model with vascular demential / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effect of venlafaxine on learning and memory ability in rats with vascular dementia(VD).Methods Totally 90 Wistar rats were divided into sham-operation group,model group and treatment group (n=30 for each).The VD rat model was established by modified pulsinellis 4-vessel occlusion (4 VO).Rats in the sham-operation group and model group were administered with gastric perfusion of distilled water.Rats in the treatment group were administrated with gastric perfusion of Venlafaxine at 15 mg/kg per day for 4 weeks from the 2nd day after the modeling.The one-way avoidance test was performed to study the learning-memory ability of each group.The contents of norepinephrine,5-hydroxytryptamine and BDNF in the hippocampus and cortex of rats were observed.Results Model group demonstrated a decrease in the percentage of one-way avoidance test (50.3±6.2 vs.92.3±5.6,P＜0.01) as compared with sham-operation group,and this value was increased in treatment group (62 2±4.6).Compared with the sham-operation group,the contents of NE and 5-HT in the hippocampus [(226±34) pg/g and (340±40) pg/g],and cortex [(601±66) pg/g and (657±43) pg/g] in rat brains of model group were decreased (P＜0.01),while increased in treatment group [(264±45) pg/g and (379±42)pg/g,(665±68) pg/g and (798±51)pg/g,P＜0.05].The OD value of BDNF in the hippocampus (0.495±0.041) and cortex (0.488±0.042) were increased (P＜0.05) in model group,and in treatment group,BDNF levels were more higher (0.579±0.044 and 0.578±0.06/4,P＜0.05).Conclusions The content of brain monoamine neurotransmitters are decreased in rats with VD,while venlafaxine can improve the learning memory ability in model rats through increasing the levels of 5-HT,NE and BDNF in hippocampus and cortex.