Effects of Phenylethanoid Glycosides Extracted from Herba Cistanches on the Learning and Memory of the APP/PSI Transgenic Mice with Alzheimer's Disease

BACKGROUND: To investigate the effects of phenylethanoid glycosides (PhGs) extracted from Herba Cistanches on the behavioral and cognition capacity of the APP/PSI transgenic mice with Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: AD mice were randomly divided into the control group, model group, donepezil group, PhG groups, and verbascose group, respectively. Three weeks later, the animals were subject to behavioral and cognition evaluation by the nesting test, Morris water maze test, and step-down test. RESULTS: The cognition capacity in these groups showed a significant increase compared with that in the model group. The step-down test indicated that the errors induced by the memory decrease in the PhG groups and verbascose group showed a significant decrease compared with those in the model group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: PhGs attenuated the cognitive dysfunction features of the APP/PSI transgenic gene. Besides, PhGs were the active components for the anti-AD activity of H. Cistanches.