Gypenoside TN-2 ameliorates scopolamine-induced learning deficit in mice.

BACKGROUND

Gynostemma pentaphyllum (Thunb.) Makino (GP, family Cucurbitaceae), which contains dammarane saponins as its main constituents, is used in China, Japan, and Korea as a traditional medicine to treat cancer, obesity, arteriosclerosis, asthma and senility.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the memory-enhancing effects of GP, Gypenoside TN-2 (TN-2) was isolated by activity-guided fractionation and administered to scopolamine-induced memory-deficient mice.

METHODS

The memory-enhancing effects of TN-2 were evaluated using passive avoidance, Y-maze, and Morris water maze tests, and the protein expressions of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), cAMP element binding protein (CREB), and p-CREB were determined by immunoblotting.

RESULTS

TN-2 inhibited memory and learning deficits in scopolamine treated mice in the passive avoidance test. TN-2 (10, 20, and 40 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly inhibited memory and learning deficits in the passive avoidance test by 40%, 96% and 78%, respectively, and exhibited significant memory-enhancing effects on the Y-maze test and the Morris water maze test. TN-2 also markedly increased BNDF expression and activated the transcription factor CREB in the hippocampi of scopolamine-treated mice.

CONCLUSIONS

TN-2 may ameliorate memory and learning deficits by activating the CREB-BDNF pathway.