Astragalosides attenuate learning and memory impairment in rats following ischemia-reperfusion injury

Astragalosides (ASTs) have been traditionally used in the treatment of various cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The aim of the present study was to investigate the neuroprotective effects of AST on learning and memory following focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion in a rat model. A Morris water maze was used to measure the effect of AST on learning and memory impairments. A histological examination and Hoechst 33258 staining was used to observe the neuronal changes and apoptosis in the hippocampus. The activity of phospho-extracellular signal-regulated kinases (p-ERK), p-c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) and p-Akt was measured by western blotting. The data revealed that AST improved the rats learning and memory abilities, attenuated neuronal cells apoptosis, increased the expression of p-ERK and p-Akt, and decreased the expression of p-JNK. These findings indicated that AST has protective effects that may be correlated with the inhibition of neuronal cell apoptosis and the regulation of p-ERK, p-Akt and p-JNK expression.