Activity of tongqiao huoxue decoction on the memory and learning ability and fluorescence intensity of intracellular calcium concentration of hippocampal neurons of vascular dementia rats / 中国药学杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To study activity of tongqiao huoxue decoction (TQHXD) on memory and learning ability of rats with vascular dementia (VD) and its influence on fluorescence intensity of intracellular calcium concentration of hippocampal neurons. METHODS: Vascular dementia model was established by using improved bilateral carotid artery ligation method. The Morris water maze experiment was adopted to evaluate the ethology of VD rats. The fluorescence intensity of hippocampus intracellular calcium was detected by flow cytometry. RESULTS: Compared with the model group, high, middle and low dose group of TQHXD significantly reduce the time of escape latency and the distance of climbing on the platform (P < 0.01). The entries in the second quadrant, the times in the second quadrant and the distance in the second quadrant in relation to high, middle and low dose groups of TQHXD were increasing significantly (P < 0.05) and the latency to first entry in the second quadrant was shorten (P < 0.05). The fluorescence intensity of intracellular calcium in hippocampal neurons of the high, middle and low dose groups of TQHXD was lower than that of the model group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: TQHXD can improve the memory and learning ability of rats with VD significantly. The mechanism may be related to reduce the intracellular calcium concentration in the hippocampus, thereby the damage of nerve cells is reduced.