Objective: To explore the effect of ginsenosides (GS) on the memory retention of rats in
sleep deprivation (SD) Methods: SD was induced in male Sprague-Dawlay rats by employing “Flower Pot”technique According to the time difference of being
deprived of sleep, 24 rats were divided into three
groups randomly: 24 SD (being deprived of sleep for 24 hours), 48 SD (being deprived of sleep for 48 hours), 72 SD (being deprived of sleep for 72 hours) And every group was also divided into two subgroups:
experimental group and control group Ginsenosides were forced fed to the experimental groups continuously for 5 days, and normal saline in equal volume to the controls, then the rats were being deprived of sleep for different time Before and after SD immediately, the behaviors of rats were studied in Step-down test Results : Among all groups, the latency of first
electrification decreased, and the number and time of electrification increased after SD Compared with control groups, the latency of first electrification of experimental group increased significantly in 72 SD (p<0 05), and the number and time of electrification decreased markedly (p<0 05); there were no obvious difference in 24 SD and 48 SD (p>0 05) And no difference was observed between experimental groups and the controls before SD (p>0 05) Conclusion: GS showed a memory retention facilitating effect on rats with impaired memory due to SD in Step-down test, and the effect may be enhanced with increased duration of SD to a certain extent