Mannotriose regulates learning and memory signal transduction in hippocampus

The main component of the Chinese herb Rehmannia, mannotriose, can improve learning and memory. Dr. Lina Zhang and colleagues from Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China used 1 - 10 mol/L mannotriose to treat primary hippocampal neurons insulted with 1 - 10 mol/L corticosterone. They found that hippocampal neuron survival rates and protein levels of glucocorticoid receptor, serum and glucocorticoid-regulated protein kinase, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor were all dramatically decreased after high-concentration corticosterone-induced injury.

This effect was reversed by mannotriose, to a similar level as RU38486 and donepezil. These findings, published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 32, 2013), indicate that mannotriose could protect hippocampal neurons from high-concentration corticosterone-induced injury. The mechanism by which this occurred was associated with levels of glucocorticoid receptor protein, serum and glucocorticoid-regulated protein kinase, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor.