Protective Effects of EGb761 on CA1 Area in Hippocampus of Rats with Vascular Dementia

Objective Observe the effects of EGb761 to protect the cells in the CA1 area in hippocampus of the vascular dementia rats.Methods VD rat models,established by repeatedly cerebral ischemia/reperfusion,were randomly divided into two groups:model group and EGb761 treated group(both n=30),and another 30 condition-matched rats were selected as the sham-operated group.Spatial learning and memory ability and the microcosmic changes and the number of neurons in CA1 area in different groups were assayed by Morris water maze(MWM) task and Nissl stain slices through microscopy respectively.Results The MWM escape latency(EL) of model group were highly longer than that of the sham-operated group(P0.01),while the EL of EGb761-treated group was significantly shorter than that of model group,but still longer than that of the sham-operated group at 1m,2m and 4m after VD modeling operation(P0.05 or 0.01).At different time points,the loss of pyramidal neurons and shortened apical dendrite of neurons were revealed in hippocampal CA1 area in the VD model group,while the rats in the EGb761-treated groups have more cells in the CA1 area in hippocampus than those in the VD model group.Conclusion EGb761 could protect the cells in the CA1 area in hippocampus,which may be one of important mechanisms of EGb761 in improving learning and memory dysfunction of VD rats.