Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical endocrine disruptor to which humans are often exposed in daily life. Postnatal administration of BPA results in schizophrenia (SCZ)-like behaviours in rats. The present study was designed to elucidate whether treatment with astragaloside IV (ASIV) or saponins extracted from Astragalus spinosus improves the neurobehavioural and neurochemical disturbances induced by BPA. Fifty-two juvenile (PND20) male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into four groups. The rats in Group I were considered the control rats, while the rats in Group II were orally administered BPA (125 mg/kg) daily from PND20 to adult age (PND117). The rats in the third and fourth groups were administered BPA (125 mg/kg/day) supplemented with astragaloside IV (80 mg/kg/d) on PND20 or A. spinosus saponins (100 mg/kg/d) from PND50 to PND117, respectively. Administration of ASIV and saponins extracted from Astragalus spinosus reversed the anxiogenic and depressive-like behaviours and the social defects that were observed in the rats treated with BPA alone. Additionally, these compounds improved memory impairments, restored dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT), and monoamine oxidase (MAO-A) levels and normalized Tph₂ mRNA expression towards the control values. Taken together, it can be concluded that orally administered ASIV and A. spinosus saponins exhibit neuroprotective effects and that these compounds can be used as therapeutic strategies against BPA-induced neuropsychiatric symptoms in a rat model of SCZ.

双酚A（BPA）是一种化学内分泌干扰物，人类在日常生活中经常接触到该物质。产后服用双酚A会导致大鼠出现精神分裂症（SCZ）样行为。本研究旨在阐明用黄芪甲苷IV（ASIV）或从黄芪中提取的皂苷治疗是否能改善BPA引起的神经行为和神经化学障碍。将52只幼年（PND20）雄性Sprague Dawley大鼠分为四组。从PND20到成年年龄（PND117），每天将组I的大鼠视为对照组，而组II的大鼠则每天口服BPA（125 mg / kg）。在第三和第四组的大鼠中，在PND20或棘孢上给予BPA（125 mg / kg /天）补充黄芪甲苷IV（80 mg / kg / d）皂苷（100 mg / kg / d）分别从PND50至PND117。施用ASIV和从黄芪中提取的皂苷逆转了在单独用BPA治疗的大鼠中观察到的焦虑和抑郁样行为以及社会缺陷。此外，这些化合物改善了记忆障碍，恢复了多巴胺（DA），5-羟色胺（5-HT）和单胺氧化酶（MAO-A）的水平，并使Tph ₂ mRNA的表达朝着对照值正常化。两者合计，可以得出结论，口服给予的ASIV和棘孢曲霉皂苷具有神经保护作用，并且这些化合物可用作SCB大鼠模型中BPA引起的神经精神症状的治疗策略。