PMID- 31239867 OWN - NLM STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE LR - 20201001 IS - 1741-427X (Print) IS - 1741-4288 (Electronic) IS - 1741-427X (Linking) VI - 2019 DP - 2019 TI - Cynomorium songaricum Extract Alleviates Memory Impairment through Increasing CREB/BDNF via Suppression of p38MAPK/ERK Pathway in Ovariectomized Rats. PG - 9689325 LID - 10.1155/2019/9689325 [doi] LID - 9689325 AB - Cynomorium songaricum Rupr is a very important traditional Chinese medicine for tonifying the kidney, which has a significant effect on improving estrogen level on the long term. In many studies, it can improve the learning and memory function of ovariectomized (OVX) model animals. 10 of the 50 rats received only bilateral back surgery and were harvested with the same amount of fat as the ovaries without removing the ovaries as sham group; remains underwent bilateral ovariectomy and equally randomized into five groups: sham group, with OVX as model group, estradiol valerate (EV, 0.2 mg/kg) as positive control, with 3.3 and 33 mg/kg body weight/day of ethyl acetate extract of Cynomorium songaricum extract (CSE) as low and high dosage groups, respectively. The orally administered CSE to ovariectomized rats exerted an ameliorative effect on learning and memory in the Morris water maze tests. All rats were sacrificed after 8 weeks of treatment, and tissue was analyzed using histopathology and electron microscopy. To comprehensively examine the mechanism, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), p-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p-p38MAPK), extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK), p-extracellular regulated protein kinases (p-ERK), and p-cAMP-response element binding protein (p-CREB) were detected by Western blotting. Using histopathology and electron microscopy, it was clearly observed that the pyramidal neurons of the hippocampal CA1 area were reduced in the OVX groups, indicating that CSE could attenuate the loss of pyramidal neurons in hippocampal CA1 and revert the synaptic morphological variations produced by ovariectomy. Mechanistically, the expressions of p-p38MAPK and p-ERK levels were significantly downregulated by CSE intervention, whereas the BDNF and p-CREB were significantly upregulated by CSE as compared to the control. Concisely, Cynomorium songaricum Rupr exhibited potential therapeutic effect on Neuroprotection of ovariectomized rats, and its effect was possibly exerted by p-CREB/BDNF mediated down regulation of ERK/p38MAPK. FAU - Tian, Fang-Ze AU - Tian FZ AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-7262-8986 AD - Graduate School, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China. FAU - Chang, Hong-Sheng AU - Chang HS AD - School of Preclinical Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicines, Beijing, China. FAU - Liu, Jian-Xun AU - Liu JX AD - Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Haidian District, Beijing, China. FAU - Zheng, Junchao AU - Zheng J AD - School of Preclinical Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicines, Beijing, China. FAU - Cheng, Dan AU - Cheng D AD - School of Preclinical Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicines, Beijing, China. FAU - Lu, Yi AU - Lu Y AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-4789-4801 AD - School of Preclinical Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicines, Beijing, China. LA - eng PT - Journal Article DEP - 20190523 PL - United States TA - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med JT - Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM JID - 101215021 PMC - PMC6556289 EDAT- 2019/06/27 06:00 MHDA- 2019/06/27 06:01 PMCR- 2019/05/23 CRDT- 2019/06/27 06:00 PHST- 2019/03/05 00:00 [received] PHST- 2019/04/14 00:00 [revised] PHST- 2019/05/05 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2019/06/27 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2019/06/27 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2019/06/27 06:01 [medline] PHST- 2019/05/23 00:00 [pmc-release] AID - 10.1155/2019/9689325 [doi] PST - epublish SO - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019 May 23;2019:9689325. doi: 10.1155/2019/9689325. eCollection 2019.