Administration of Salvianolic Acid B Attenuates Learning and Memory Deficits in Diabetic Rats: Involvement of Oxidative Stress

Background and objective: based on the effect of chronic metabolic diseases including diabetes mellitus on the learning and memory, this study was designed to assess the usefulness of administration of salvialonic acid b on lessening of learning and memory deficits in streptozotocin (stz)-diabetic rats. materials and methods: male wistar rats were allocated into control, salvialonic acid b-treated control, diabetic and salvialonic acid b-treated diabetic groups. salvialonic acid b was administered at a dose of 10 mg/kg/day for 8 weeks. assessment of learning and memory was performed by y maze and passive avoidance tests. moreover, oxidative stress marker malondialdehyde (mda) was also measured. results: the results showed that in diabetic rats, alternation score in y maze and retention and recall in passive avoidance test decreased in comparison with control rats (p < 0.0001-p < 0.01). after treatment with salvialonic acid b (10 mg/kg), alternation score and retention and recall of diabetic rats significantly improved (p < 0.05-p < 0.001). on the other hand, the treatment of diabetic rats with salvialonic acid b significantly decreased level of mda (p < 0.01). conclusion: taken together, these results show that salvialonic acid b could improve learning and memory deficits in stz-diabetic rats by reduction of lipid peroxidation.