Biol. Pharm. Bull. 29(9) 1880—1885 (2006)

eases such as hypertension, arteriosclerosis and different forms of dementia are also increased. One of these diseases is vascular dementia (VD). VD is a step-wise deterioration in intellectual powers that appear as different areas of the brain are damaged by loss of blood supply. The conventional concept of VD is that of multi-infarct dementia, arising from chronic cerebral ischemia and various vascular changes in the brain. It is reported that the reduction in cerebral blood flow and abnormal energy metabolism occurred in chronic cerebral ischemia can induce the accumulation of NO and ROS which lead to neurons injury in selective, vulnerable regions of the brain, especially the hippocampus and cerebral cortex, accompanied by cognitive decline and some motor disorders. In oriental medicine, many traditional Chinese drugs have been used clinically for treatment of ischemic cerebrovascular disease. Breviscapine is extracted from the traditional Chinese drug Erigeron Breviscapus (vant.) Hand.-Mazz and mainly composed of Scutellarein, Plantaginin and Pyromeconic acid. The injection preparation of breviscapine has been used in clinic to treat cardiovascular diseases, cerebral infarction and stroke in China. The clinical reports suggested that the injection of breviscapine (0.5 mg/kg, i.v. gtt, qd, 15 d) possess neuroprotective action and improves learning and memory in cerebrovascular diseases. Although the curative effect of breviscapine in cerebral infarction and cerebral ischemia is obvious, there is no data available for this drug in treatment of VD. In this study, the effects of chronic treatment with breviscapine on the learning deficits, neuronal injury and antioxidative properties in VD rats were investigated.