Behavioral, Neurochemical and Neuroendocrine Effects of Abnormal Savda Munziq in the Chronic Stress Mice

Oral administration of Abnormal Savda Munsiq (ASMq), a herbal preparation used in Traditional Uighur Medicine, was found to exert a memory-enhancing effect in the chronic stressed mice, induced by electric foot-shock. The memory improvement of the stressed mice was shown by an increase of the latency time in the step-through test and the decrease of the latency time in the Y-maze test. Treatment with ASMq was found to significantly decrease the serum levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), corticosterone (CORT) and β-endorphin (β-EP) as well as the brain and serum level of norepinephrine (NE). Furthermore, ASMq was able to significantly reverse the chronic stress by decreasing the brain and serum levels of the monoamine neurotransmitters dopamine (DA), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPAC). The results obtained from this study suggested that the memory-enhancing effect of ASMq was mediated through regulations of neurochemical and neuroendocrine systems.