Clitoria ternatea , commonly known as Shankpushpi, is widely used in the traditional Indian system of medicine as a brain tonic and is believed to promote memory and intelligence. We examined the effectiveness of alcoholic extracts of aerial and root parts of C. ternatea at 300 and 500 mg/kg doses orally in rats in attenuating electroshock-induced amnesia. Extracts at 300 mg/kg dose produced significant memory retention, and the root parts were found to be more effective. In order to delineate the possible mechanism through which C. ternatea elicits the anti-amnesic effects, we studied its influence on central cholinergic activity by estimating the acetylcholine content of the whole brain and acetylcholinesterase activity at different regions of the rat brain, viz., cerebral cortex, midbrain, medulla oblongata and cerebellum. Our results suggest that C. ternatea extracts increase rat brain acetylcholine content and acetyl cholinesterase a ctivity in a similar fashion to the standard cerebro protective drug Pyritinol.

Gentiana lutea Linn (Gentianaceae), commonly known as gentian, is widely used in the traditional system of medicine as an anti-inflammatory and wound healing agent. We examined the effectiveness of alcohol and petrol ether extracts of rhizomes of Gentiana lutea at 500 and 1000 mg/kg doses orally in the carrageenan-induced rat paw edema, xylolinduced mouse ear edema and cotton pellet-induced chronic inflammatory models. Both extracts showed significant dosedependent anti-inflammatory activities in all of these models. Both extracts exhibited significant wound healing activity at 300 and 500 mg/kg, p.o., in excision, resutured incision and dead space wound models.

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Clitoria ternatea, commonly known as Shankpushpi, is widely used in the traditional Indian system of medicine as a brain tonic and is believed to promote memory and intelligence. We examined the effectiveness of alcoholic extracts of aerial and root parts of C. ternatea at 300 and 500 mg/kg doses orally in rats in attenuating electroshock-induced amnesia. Extracts at 300 mg/kg dose produced significant memory retention, and the root parts were found to be more effective. In order to delineate the possible mechanism through which C. ternatea elicits the anti-amnesic effects, we studied its influence on central cholinergic activity by estimating the acetylcholine content of the whole brain and acetylcholinesterase activity at different regions of the rat brain, viz., cerebral cortex, midbrain, medulla oblongata and cerebellum. Our results suggest that C. ternatea extracts increase rat brain acetylcholine content and acetyl cholinesterase activity in a similar fashion to the standard cerebro protective drug Pyritinol.

Objectives:Present study evaluates the effect of Calotropis procera (Apocynaceae) dry latex on cognitive function in rats using scopolamine and electroconvulsive shock (ECS) induced amnesia model.Materials and Methods:Male Wistar rats were pretreated with 200, 400 and 800 mg/kg of C. procera dry latex in scopolamine-induced amnesia model. Dose showing maximum effect in cognitive performance was selected and further evaluated using scopolamine and ECS-induced amnesia model for its effect on neurochemical enzymes and cognitive performance. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, β amyloid1-42, and dopamine level were analyzed, while the cognitive performance was assessed by elevated plus maze, step-through passive avoidance test, and Morris water maze. Simultaneously, C. procera dry latex (25, 50, 100, 250, 500, and 1000 μg/mL) was screened for in vitro AChE inhibition assay.Results:Pretreatment with (200, 400 and 800 mg/kg) C. procera dry latex shows dose dependent increase in cognitive performance in scopolamine-induced amnesia. Further, pretreatment with the selected dose (800 mg/kg) showed significant improvement in transfer latency (P < 0.001, P < 0.01), escape latency (P < 0.05), time spent in target quadrant (P < 0.001) also significant decrease in AChE activity (P < 0.05), β amyloid1-42 level (P < 0.001), and increase in dopamine level (P < 0.01) in rat brain homogenate when compared with scopolamine and ECS disease control groups. IC50 for C. procera dry latex was found to be <1000 μg/mL.Conclusions:Pretreatment with C. procera dry latex (800 mg/kg) produced significant cognition enhancement by improving cognitive performance and decreasing the marker neurochemical enzyme activity in scopolamine and ECS-induced amnesia model.