Effect of Toki‐Shakuyaku‐San (TJ‐23) on the activity of choline acetyltransferase in the brain of menopausal rats

Abstract

AbstractThis study was designed to examine the effect of TJ‐23 on the synthesis of acetylcholine menopausal rats. TJ‐23 (500 mg/kg body weight) was administered daily through drinking water for either 1 or 3 months. Treatment with TJ‐23 for 1 month resulted in an increase in the choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity in the ventral hippocampus, but there was no statistically significant change in the frontoparietal cerebral cortex. Treatment with TJ‐23 for 3 months resulted in a decrease in the ChAT activity in the frontoparietal cortex, but there was no statistically significant change in the hippocampus. Furthermore, treatment with TJ‐23 for 3 months resulted in a decrease in the ChAT activity in the amygdala‐pyriform cortex complex. From these observations, it is inferred that TJ‐23 treatment brings on the synthesis of acetylcholine in the frontoparietal cerebral cortex and hippocampus, and furthermore, treatment with the same regimen brings on different time sequences of acetylcholine synthesis in the frontoparietal cerebral cortex and hippocampus in menopausal rats.