Abstract:

Objective：To investigate the effect of Huangqi granule on apoptosis of hippocampus in rats with Alzheimer’s disease. Methods：Forty-eight healthy male SD rats were selected and randomly divided into 4 groups：control group，model group，Huangqi granule group and piracetam group，with 12 rats in each group. The rat model of Alzheimer’s disease was established by injecting β-amyloid peptide 1-40 into the ventricle of the rat. Astragalus granule group and piracetam group were given Astragalus granules and piracetam tablets dissolved in normal saline，respectively. The control group and model group were given the same amount of normal saline. After 30 days of treatment，the Morris water maze method was used to determine the number of times of crossing and the escape latency of each group of SD rats to determine the learning and memory ability. Western Blot experiment was used to determine the apoptosisinhibiting protein Bcl-2 in the hippocampal tissue cells of each group，and the levels of proapoptotic proteins Bax and Caspase-3. The apoptosis of hippocampus was detected by flow  cytometry. Results：Compared with the model group of rats，the administration of Huangqi granules and positive drugs would increase the number of traversing and shorten the escape latency of rats. The results were statistically different（P<0.05）. The levels of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 in the hippocampal tissue cells of the astragalus granule group and the piracetam group increased significantly，while the levels of pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and Caspase-3 decreased significantly. The results of flow cytometry showed that the apoptosis level of Huangqi granule group was significantly lower than that of model group. Conclusion：Astragalus granules can increase the level of Bcl-2 protein in the hippocampal tissue cells of Alzheimer’s disease rats and decrease the level of Bax and Caspase-3 protein to hinder the process of neuronal apoptosis，thereby improving the ability of learning and memory.

Key words:

font-family:Times, "> Huangqi granulesfont-family:Helvetica, ">, Alzheimer's diseasefont-family:Helvetica, ">, hippocampal tissuefont-family:Helvetica, ">, apoptosis