search button

WSKY, a traditional Chinese decoction, rescues cognitive impairment associated with NMDA receptor antagonism by enhancing BDNF/ERK/CREB signaling

  • Authors:
    • Xin Guo
    • Zheng‑Hua Chen
    • Hui‑Ling Wang
    • Zhong‑Chun Liu
    • Xiao‑Ping Wang
    • Ben‑Hong Zhou
    • Can Yang
    • Xue‑Ping Zhang
    • Ling Xiao
    • Chang Shu
    • Jian‑Xin Chen
    • Gao‑Hua Wang

  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: December 12, 2014     https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2014.3086
  • Pages: 2927-2934
Metrics: Total Views: 0 (Spandidos Publications: | PMC Statistics: )
Total PDF Downloads: 0 (Spandidos Publications: | PMC Statistics: )


Abstract

Warm‑supplementing kidney yang (WSKY) is an herbal prescription that has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for the treatment of psychiatric conditions. A previous study by our group found that WSKY significantly improved cognitive function of schizophrenia patients. In the present study, the effects of WSKY on cognitive function and their underlying mechanisms were investigated. WSKY was administered to an MK‑801‑induced rat model of chronic schizophrenia for 14 days. Memory performance was assessed using the Morris water maze (MWM) test. The expression of brain‑derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), activation of cAMP response element binding protein (pCREB/CREB) and activation of extracellular signal‑regulated kinase (pERK/ERK) in the hippocampus was detected using western blot analysis. In the acquisition phase of the MWM test, the escape latency was significantly increased in the MK‑801‑treated group compared with the normal control group (P<0.01). Treatment with WSKY for 14 days at doses of 100  or 250 mg/kg rescued this cognitive impairment (P<0.05). In the probe test, 250 mg/kg WSKY treatment increased the time spent in the target quadrant (P<0.05) and number of platform crossings (P<0.01). Western blot analysis demonstrated that the levels of BDNF expression in the hippocampus of rats without behavioral tests were elevated following 14 days of WSKY treatment, and the effect of WSKY treatment on hippocampal BDNF expression was presented in an inverted U‑shaped dose‑response pattern. The pERK1/2 in the hippocampus was significantly enhanced following 100 mg/kg (P<0.01) and 250 mg/kg (P<0.01) WSKY treatment, while only 250 mg/kg WSKY increased the phosphorylation of CREB (P<0.01). The results of the present study indicated that WSKY enhances cognitive performance via the upregulation of BDNF/ERK/CREB signaling, and that WSKY has potential therapeutic implications for cognitive impairment of schizophrenia.
View Figures
View References

Related Articles

Journal Cover

April-2015
Volume 11 Issue 4

Print ISSN: 1791-2997
Online ISSN:1791-3004

Sign up for eToc alerts

Recommend to Library

  • Journal Metrics
  • Impact Factor: 3.4
  • Ranked Medicine Research and Experimental
    (total number of cites)
  • CiteScore: 6.9
  • CiteScore Rank: Q2: #98/328 Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP): 0.721
  • SCImago Journal Rank (SJR): 0.65
International Symposium on Molecular Medicine Conference Banner
The Cancer Story
World Congress on Advances in Oncology and International Symposium on Molecular Medicine Conference Banner
World Academy Of Sciences Banner
Heyday Road Banner

0

Copy and paste a formatted citation
x
Spandidos Publications style
Guo X, Chen ZH, Wang HL, Liu ZC, Wang XP, Zhou BH, Yang C, Zhang XP, Xiao L, Shu C, Shu C, et al: WSKY, a traditional Chinese decoction, rescues cognitive impairment associated with NMDA receptor antagonism by enhancing BDNF/ERK/CREB signaling. Mol Med Rep 11: 2927-2934, 2015
APA
Guo, X., Chen, Z., Wang, H., Liu, Z., Wang, X., Zhou, B. ... Wang, G. (2015). WSKY, a traditional Chinese decoction, rescues cognitive impairment associated with NMDA receptor antagonism by enhancing BDNF/ERK/CREB signaling. Molecular Medicine Reports, 11, 2927-2934. https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2014.3086
MLA
Guo, X., Chen, Z., Wang, H., Liu, Z., Wang, X., Zhou, B., Yang, C., Zhang, X., Xiao, L., Shu, C., Chen, J., Wang, G."WSKY, a traditional Chinese decoction, rescues cognitive impairment associated with NMDA receptor antagonism by enhancing BDNF/ERK/CREB signaling". Molecular Medicine Reports 11.4 (2015): 2927-2934.
Chicago
Guo, X., Chen, Z., Wang, H., Liu, Z., Wang, X., Zhou, B., Yang, C., Zhang, X., Xiao, L., Shu, C., Chen, J., Wang, G."WSKY, a traditional Chinese decoction, rescues cognitive impairment associated with NMDA receptor antagonism by enhancing BDNF/ERK/CREB signaling". Molecular Medicine Reports 11, no. 4 (2015): 2927-2934. https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2014.3086