Panax ginseng ginsenoside-Rg2 protects memory impairment via anti-apoptosis in a rat model with vascular dementia.

Ginsenosides, the major active ingredients of Panax ginseng, produce a variety of pharmacological or physiological responses with effects on the central and peripheral nervous systems. In this report, we investigated the effects of ginsenoside Rg2 on cerebral ischemia-reperfusion induced impairment of neurological responses, memory and caudate-putamen neuronal apoptosis in a vascular dementia (VD) rat model. Neurological evaluation was performed 24h after reperfusion and Y-maze memory performance was assessed at 48 h after reperfusion. Immunocytochemical techniques were employed to check the protein expression of BCL-2, BAX, heat shock protein 70 and P53, which are related with cell apoptosis. Neurological responses and memory ability of the ginsenoside Rg2 or nimodipine groups improved significantly compared with the VD group. The expression of BCL-2 and HSP70 were decreased, while BAX and P53 were increased in the VD model. The expression of BCL-2 and HSP70 proteins were increased, while BAX and P53 decreased after ginsenoside Rg2 (2.5, 5 and 10mg/kg) and nimodipine (50 microg/kg) treatment compared with the VD group. The study suggests that ginsenoside Rg2 improved neurological performance and memory ability of VD rats through mechanisms related to anti-apoptosis. The capacity for ginsenoside Rg2 to modulate the expression of apoptotic related proteins suggests that ginsenoside Rg2 may represent a potential treatment strategy for vascular dementia or other ischemic insults.

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Guizhi Zhang, Ailing Liu, Yingbin Zhou, Xun San, Taowei Jin, Yi Jin. Panax ginseng ginsenoside-Rg2 protects memory impairment via anti-apoptosis in a rat model with vascular dementia. Journal of ethnopharmacology. 2008 Feb 12;115(3):441-8

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PMID: 18083315

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