Abstract: Cognitive disorders such as amnesia, attention deficit and Alzheimer’s disease are emerging nightmares in the field of medicine because no exact cure exists for them, as existing nootropic agents has several limitations. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the combination of extracts of Acorus calamus and Panax ginseng in different ratios for cognition enhancement.
The combination (1:1) and (2:1) was administered orally at different doses for 14 consecutive days in Male Wistar rats. Aricept (5 mg/kg) as used as a standard nootropic agent. Learning and memory parameters were evaluated using elevated plus maze(EPM) and novel object recognition model(NOR).Brain AChE activity was also evaluated.It was observed that amongst the two ratios (1:1) and (2:1), the ratio (1:1) was found to give more significant results than the other by significantly reversing the scopolamine induced amnesia(0.5mg/kg), as evidenced by a decrease in the transfer latency in the EPM task and increase in the recognition index in NOR task. The combination (2:1) was found to reduce brain AChE activity more significantly than (1:1).
Acorus Calamus being Acetyl cholinesterase inhibitor and Panax ginseng being NMDA receptor antagonist. Both the plants possess different signaling cascade. These plants act via two different, but interconnected, pathological pathways, and that their complementary activity may produce greater effects than either drug individually. Also, diminished cholinergic transmission appear to be responsible for the development of amyloid plaques and dementia in Alzheimer’s patients, the combinations used may prove to be a useful memory-restorative agent. Also, the combination (2:1) would be worthwhile to explore the potential of these plants in the management of Alzheimer’s disease as compared to combination (1:1).
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, amnesia, Acorus calamus, Panax ginseng.
Title: Therapeutic Approaches for Cognition Enhancement
Author: Deepika Rameshwar Nirmal, Dr.Kedar Prabhavalkar
International Journal of Healthcare Sciences
ISSN 2348-5728 (Online)
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