Astragalus membranaceus infusion effect on rats learningin the radial maze

Relevance. Treatment of cognitive impairment is a serious problem for modern medicine. Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease are chronic progressive neurodegenerative diseases and the most common cause of progressive dementia in the elderly. There is no effective therapy for these diseases, so it is necessary to search for integrated therapies, including herbal medicine. The aim was to study a short-term and long-term memory of rats in the test «eight-arm radial maze» under the influence of repeated administration of an aqueous extract of the herb Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bunge. Materials and Methods. The experiment was carried out on 18 non-linear rats, divided into 3 groups - control and 2 experimental. For 21 days, the animals received daily intragastric caffeine at a dose of 5 mg/kg, infusion an aqueous extract of Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bunge at a dose of 100 mg/kg. The control was injected with drinking water by weight. To study the cognitive functions of the maze, performing two series of tests - at 2-7 and 16-21. Results and Discussion. In the course of the study, it was found that when the animals were tested for 2-7 days, there were no significant changes between the groups. With an increase in the duration of administration of the test substances by the 16-21 days of the experiment, in the second test series, an increase in memory points was observed both in the second (caffeine, 5 mg/kg) and in the third ( Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bunge, 100 mg/kg) of the experimental groups. Conclusion. The introduction of caffeine at a dosage of 5 mg/kg influenced the activation of short-term and long-term memory with a duration of more than 17 days of administrationat the 2nd stage of testing. Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bunge (100 mg/kg) caused the activation of working and long-term spatial memory from the 16th day of the experimenton the 2nd series of tests.