The in vivo effects of oral aqueous Boswellia extract on the expression of memory genes CREB and BDNF

Boswellia has been utilized for centuries for prevention of amnesia; however, its molecular mechanism is not well-defined. CREB and BDNF are two key genes in memory formation. The aim of the present work was to investigate the in vivo testing of the effect of aqueous extract of Boswellia on the CREB and BDNF expression in the hippocampus of adult ratbrain. For this purpose, 21 male rats with a weight range (250 ± 50) grams were randomly divided into 3 groups (n=7): thecontrol group received distilled water and treatment groups received two doses of aqueous extract of Boswellia (50 and 100mg/kg) every day by gavage for 4 weeks. After drug treatment, the animals were tested for their training ability by the Morris water maze task. Then, hippocampus was dissected following decapitation and Total RNA was isolated using RNXplus. RNA was reverse transcribed, using a reverse transcription system with random hexamer primers, then mRNA levels were analyzed by quantitative real time PCR. The results of MWM show facilitation of spatial learning and memoryprocesses in both the treatment groups. The levels of the mRNA of BDNF were significantly increased in the treatmentgroups. However, no significant effect on the levels of the expression of CREB was seen. The findings suggest that the effects of Boswellia may be at least partly due to its inducing effects on the expression levels of the BDNF, which support the conventional belief about Boswellia for improving of the memory

کلیدواژه ها:

Boswellia ، learning and memory ، BDNF ، CREB ، Real time PCR