Effects of vaccinium bracteatum thunb leaf ethanol extract on rats mental fatigue

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of vaccinium bracteatum thunb leaf ethanol extract(VEE)on mental fatigue and its mechanism in rats.MethodsThe rat mental fatigue model was established by sleep deprivation(SD)through flower-pot,and then spontaneous movement activity,learning and memory ability were measured by spontaneous movement box and Morris water maze(MWM).In the mean time,the content of neurotransmitters NE,E,DA and 5-HT in brain stem were also determined with electrochemical detector or fluorescence detector by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)method respectively after praxiology test.ResultsThe latency period and total path in MWM was(10.6±2.8)s, (13.0±8.2)s,(11.2±6.4)s,(6.9±2.4)s,and(1 490±380)mm,(2 392±1 612)mm,(2 102±1 321)mm,(1 167±364) mm in normal control(NC)group,low,middle and high dose V EE group,respectively,decreased obviously compared with the control sleep deprivation(C-SD)group(19.2±4.1)s,(3 455±843)mm(P<0.05 or P<0.01).Compared with C-SD group(51±11)high dose VEE group had higher scores(70±9)in open field test(P<0.05).The content of NE,DA and 5-HT in brain stem were(0.3 467±0.0 827)ng/mg,(0.0 131±0.0 033)ng/mg and(12.1 820±1.0 835)ng/mg in C-SD group.Elevated content of NE(0.5408±0.2191)ng/mgand DA(0.0 304±0.0 058)ng/mgand decreased content of 5-HT(10.0300±0.8538)ng/mgappeared when treated with high dose VEE(P<0.05).ConclusionThe VEE could remarkably relieve the mental fatigue induced by SD.Its mechanism might be related to the adjustment of brain stem monoamine neurotransmitters.