Search

The drug discovery should not be always limited to discovery of a single molecule and current belief one disease one drug approach may be untenable in the future and that rationally designed polyherbal formulations could also be investigated as an alternative in multitarget therapies and prophylaxis. Considering this the influence of Unani Polyherbal Formulation (UPF) was investigated for its nootropic activity. To investigate nootropic activity of the UPF various experimental paradigms of learning and memory were used including transfer latency (TL) on elevated plus-maze, spatial memory evaluation using radial arm maze, passive avoidance response (PAS) and object recognition test. Mice were devided in four groups viz control i.e vehicle treated, UPF 200 mg/kg, UPF 400 mg/kg and piracetam 150 mg/kg as standard. The investigation reported that UPF 200 and 400 mg/kg significantly reduced the TL on 2nd and 9th day and significantly increased the step down latency in the PAS at acquisition and retention test. In radial arm maze task UPF 200 and 400 mg/kg showed significant decrease in the days to make the mice learned and latency to find food in reference as well as working memory. UPF also attenuated scopolamine induced memory deficit. Furthermore the UPF 200 and 400 mg/kg increased discrimination index in the object recognition test indicating nootropic activity. To conclude UPF showed significant facilitatory effect on aversively motivated learning and memory in mice, spatial learning and memory and improvement of memory in absence of cognitive deficit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]