Melatonin is known to improve cognitive deficits, and its functions have been studied in various disease models, including Alzheimer’s disease. In this study, we investigated effects of melatonin on cognition and the cholinergic system of the septum and hippocampus in a mouse model of scopolamine-induced amnesia. Scopolamine (1 mg/kg) and melatonin (10 mg/kg) were administered intraperitoneally to mice for 2 and 4 weeks. The Morris water maze and passive avoidance tests revealed that both treatments of scopolamine significantly impaired spatial learning and memory; however, 2- and 4-week melatonin treatments significantly improved spatial learning and memory. In addition, scopolamine treatments significantly decreased protein levels and immunoreactivities of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), high-affinity choline transporter (CHT), vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT), and muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M1 (M1R) in the septum and hippocampus. However, the treatments with melatonin resulted in increased ChAT-, CHT-, VAChT-, and M1R-immunoreactivities and their protein levels in the septum and hippocampus. Our results demonstrate that melatonin treatment is effective in improving the cognitive deficits via restoration of the cholinergic system in the septum and hippocampus of a mouse model of scopolamine-induced amnesia.

中文翻译：

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褪黑素通过恢复东co碱诱导的失忆症小鼠模型中的胆碱能功能障碍改善认知功能障碍。

众所周知，褪黑激素可以改善认知功能障碍，并且已经在包括阿尔茨海默氏病在内的多种疾病模型中研究了其功能。在这项研究中，我们调查了褪黑素对东pol碱诱导的失忆症小鼠模型的认知以及中隔和海马胆碱能系统的影响。将Scopolamine（1 mg / kg）和褪黑激素（10 mg / kg）腹膜内给予小鼠2周和4周。莫里斯水迷宫和被动回避测试表明，东pol碱的两种治疗方法均显着损害了空间学习和记忆能力。然而，2周和4周褪黑激素治疗可显着改善空间学习和记忆能力。此外，东pol碱治疗可显着降低蛋白水平和胆碱乙酰转移酶（ChAT），高亲和力胆碱转运蛋白（CHT）的免疫反应性，隔膜和海马中的囊泡乙酰胆碱转运蛋白（VAChT）和毒蕈碱乙酰胆碱受体M1（M1R）。但是，用褪黑素治疗会导致中隔和海马区的ChAT-，CHT-，VAChT-和M1R免疫反应性及其蛋白水平增加。我们的结果表明，褪黑素治疗可通过恢复东pol碱引起的失忆症小鼠模型的中隔和海马中的胆碱能系统，有效改善认知功能障碍。