Abstract:

Objective: To explore the effects of Inonotus obliquus (IO)on the behavior and histopathology of vascular dementia(VD) rats,and to clarify the protective effect of IO on the VD rats.Methods: Total 100 Wistar rats were selected.Bilateral carotid artery repeating occlusion and intraperitoneal injection of sodium nitroprusside were used to establish the VD rat models. The rats were divided in control group,model group, positive group (piracetam,0.5g·kg^-1) and low, medium, and high doses of IO groups (0.5,1.0,and 2.0g·kg^-1). After 8 weeks of intragastric administration,the rats were tested by Morris water maze test,then they were sacrificed,and the histopathological changes were investigated.Results: In Morris water maze test,compared with model group,the latency and swimming distance of the rats in medium and high doses of IO groups on the second to the 6th days were significantly decreased (P<0.05 or P<0.01);on the 7th day,the times of crossing platform,the times of crossing effective area,the time of staying in effective area,the distance of staying in effective area,the time of staying in effective area/total time,distance of staying in effective area/total distance of the rats were significantly increased (P<0.05).Compared with model group,the time of staying on platform and the time of staying on platform/total time of the rats in high dose of IO group were significantly increased (P<0.05).The histopathological results showed that compared with model group,the cerebral cortex and hippocampus injury of the rats in high dose of IO group were significantly reduced.Conclusion: IO has a protective effect on the VD rats. It can improve the study and memory abilities of VD rats and reduce the pathological injury of brain tissue of VD rats.

Key words: rats,Wistar, Morris water maze test, Inonotus obliquus, vascular dementia