Objective: To observe the effects of recipes for tonifying
kidney and replenishing
Qi , Zuoguiwan (ZG) and Yiqi Congming Tang(YQ) on
memory capacity, expressions of
learning and
memory -related
genes expression, and explore the changes in relevant
epigenetic modification
enzymes .
Method: SD
male rats with natural
aging (24 months old) were used as
animal models and randomly divided into
aged control group ,
aged ZG group(12.12 g·kg-1),
aged YQ group(10.18 g·kg-1),
aged compound group(11.15 g·kg-1) and
aged antagonist
RU38486 group(5×10-3g·kg-1). Another 5 months old
male SD
rats were included as the young
control group .
Morris water maze method was used to observe the
spatial learning and
memory ability of the
rats . The co-localizations of
histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) and
methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) in
hippocampus of
rats in each group were observed by
laser confocal microscope. The changes in expressions of
glucocorticoid receptor (GR), synapsin1(Syn-1), HDAC2, and
histone acetyltransferase 1(HAT1)
proteins in
hippocampus of each group were detected by
Western blot , and
mRNA expression of HDAC2 was detected by Real-
time fluorescence quantitative
polymerase Chain reaction (
Real-time PCR ). At the same
time , the effects of ZG, YQ and compound decoction in alleviating the above-mentioned abnormal changes were observed.
Result: Compared with the young
control group (
control group ), the latency of the
aged control group was significantly prolonged (PPPPPPP
Conclusion: ZG group, YQ group, and compound group can improve the
spatial learning and
memory abilities of
aged rats by increasing the expression of
learning -
memory -associated
protein GR and
epigenetic modification
enzyme HAT1, and reducing the expression of HDAC2 and the co-
localization of HDAC2
protein and MeCP2 in the nucleus.