Daidzein Activates Choline Acetyltransferase from MC-IXC Cells and Improves Drug-Induced Amnesia

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

<P>The choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activator, which enhances cholinergic transmission <I>via</I> an augmentation of the enzymatic production of acetylcholine (ACh), is an important factor in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Methanolic extracts from <I>Pueraria thunbergiana</I> exhibited an activation effect (46%) on ChAT <I>in vitro</I>. <I>Via</I> the sequential isolation of <I>Pueraria thunbergiana</I>, the active component was ultimately identified as daidzein (4′,7-dihydroxy-isoflavone). In order to investigate the effects of daidzein from <I>Pueraria thunbergiana</I> on scopolamine-induced impairments of learning and memory, we conducted a series of <I>in vivo</I> tests. Administration of daidzein (4.5 mg/kg body weight) to mice was shown significantly to reverse scopolamine-induced amnesia, according to the results of a Y-maze test. Injections of scopolamine into mice resulted in impaired performance on Y-maze tests (a 37% decreases in alternation behavior). By way of contrast, mice treated with daidzein prior to the scopolamine injections were noticeably protected from this performance impairment (an approximately 12%–21% decrease in alternation behavior). These results indicate that daidzein might play a role in acetylcholine biosynthesis as a ChAT activator, and that it also ameliorates scopolamine-induced amnesia.</P>