Analysis and adscription of volatiles from Guizhi Tang using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy and improvement of the learning and memory in mice

Objective Analysis and adscription of volatiles from Guizhi Tang and study on its improvement of the learning and memory in dementia mice induced by scopolamine. Methods The volatile oil from Guizhi Tang(GZT), Guizhi and Shengjiang was extracted using steam distillation method and was analyzed by GC-MS. Morris water maze and step-down test were carried out for obtain the difference of the learning and memory improvement in 40 ICR mice from randomized groups, such as the control group, the model group, the donepezil group (2 mg/kg), the low dose of volatile oil of GZT (5 mg/kg), and the high dose of volatile oil of GZT (20 mg/kg), and ACh, AchE, BchE and chE in serum were detected by ELISA. Results Among 38 identyfied volatile ingredients from GZT, 18(44% in weight) was from Guizhi, and 9 was from Shengjiang. Compared with the model group, the low and high dose of GZT volatile oil significantly increased swimming distance ratio in destination quadrant (26.74% ± 16.42% vs. 9.42% ± 8.50%, P<0.05); goal quadrant time scale (43.51% ± 25.12% vs. 14.50% ± 12.23%, P<0.05)) increased significantly than the model group ; the number of errors in the experiment platform (1.63 ± 1.19 vs. 0.25 ± 0.46, P<0.05) obviously increased than model group ; platform test in the made errors times (0.57 ± 0.98 vs. 4.43 ± 2.4, P<0.05) significantly reduced. The GZT total volatile oil groups significantly reduced cognitive obstacles small rat serum in the cholinester enzyme (chE) (140.90 ± 3.27, 144.79 ± 6.71 vs. 134.49 ± 3.36, P<0.05); acetylcholinesterase (AchE) (3.30 ± 1.31, 3.94 ± 0.78 vs. 8.52 ± 3.39, P<0.05); butyrylcholinesterase (BchE) (3.22 ± 0.45, 3.66 ± 0.53 vs. 7.99 ± 0.79, P<0.05); and acetylcholine (Ach) (4.10 ± 0.38, 3.03 ± 0.25 vs. 1.72 ± 0.50, P<0.05) significantly increased. Conclusions The GZT volatile oil mainly from Guizhi and Shengjiang can improve the learning and memory ability in dementia mice induced by scopolamine via a cholinergic mechnism. Key words: Gui Zhi Tang; Volatile oils; Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry; Memory disorders; Acetylcholine