Autism spectrum disorder is primarily characterized by complex behavioral and altered memory as a consequence of neuronal development abnormalities. The treatment of autism is highly challenging because of the lack of knowledge about its exact etiopathology. In the Ayurvedic system of medicine, there are group of plants named ‘Medhya drugs' because of their ability to improve brain- and neuron-related activities like learning and memory. Clitoria ternatea L. is one of the listed ‘Medhya drugs’ which have been proved for its memory enhancement effects; in the present study, the ethanolic root extract of Clitoria ternatea L. was evaluated for its neuroprotective ability against propionic acid-induced memory and behavior impairments in an autistic rat model. The variation in behavior and memory were investigated by utilizing different procedures like rat elevated plus maze and novel object recognition test. In vitro assays for the estimations of glutamate and serotonin were also performed in isolated rat brain tissue homogenate. The object recognition and elevated plus maze test were showed the promising effects of Clitoria ternatea L. ethanolic root extract against the propionic acid-induced autism. In this study, the propionic acid infused rats (Group II) fail to recognize and explore the novel object compared to Group I (infused with phosphate-buffered saline) animals; extract treatment at two different doses (250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg) (Groups III & IV, respectively) prevented these damage significantly (p < 0.001) so that extract-treated groups showed significant improvement in novel object recognition in a dose-dependent manner. Similarly, the effect of extract treatment on learning and memory of rats was investigated using transfer latency as a parameter for acquisition and retention of memory process on elevated plus maze; this further proved the memory enhancement ability of Clitoria ternatea L. Extract treatment also significantly reduced the concentration of different neurotransmitters like serotonin and glutamate in rat brain homogenate (Groups III &IV) in a dose-dependent manner as compared with the Group II. The ethanolic root extract of Clitoria ternatea L. proved to be effective against propionic acid-induced memory and behavior impairments in an autistic rat model.

中文翻译：

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Clitoria ternatea L. 对自闭症大鼠模型中丙酸诱导的行为和记忆障碍的神经保护作用

自闭症谱系障碍的主要特征是神经元发育异常导致的复杂行为和记忆改变。由于缺乏对其确切病因的了解，自闭症的治疗极具挑战性。在阿育吠陀医学系统中，有一组名为“Medhya 药物”的植物，因为它们能够改善大脑和神经元相关活动，如学习和记忆。Clitoria ternatea L. 是列出的“Medhya 药物”之一，已被证明具有增强记忆力的作用；在本研究中，在自闭症大鼠模型中评估了 Clitoria ternatea L. 的乙醇根提取物对丙酸诱导的记忆和行为障碍的神经保护能力。通过使用不同的程序，如大鼠高架十字迷宫和新物体识别测试，研究了行为和记忆的变化。还在离体的大鼠脑组织匀浆中进行了用于估计谷氨酸盐和血清素的体外测定。物体识别和高架十字迷宫测试表明 Clitoria ternatea L. 乙醇根提取物对丙酸诱导的自闭症有前景。在这项研究中，与 I 组（注入磷酸盐缓冲盐水）动物相比，丙酸注入大鼠（第二组）无法识别和探索新物体；两种不同剂量（250 mg/kg 和 500 mg/kg）（分别为第三组和第四组）的提取物处理显着防止了这些损伤（p < 0。001），因此提取物处理组以剂量依赖性方式显示出新物体识别的显着改善。类似地，使用转移潜伏期作为获得和保留高架十字迷宫记忆过程的参数来研究提取物治疗对大鼠学习和记忆的影响；这进一步证明了 Clitoria ternatea L 的记忆增强能力。与组 II 相比，提取物处理还以剂量依赖性方式显着降低大鼠脑匀浆（组 III 和 IV）中不同神经递质如血清素和谷氨酸的浓度。Clitoria ternatea L. 的乙醇根提取物被证明对自闭症大鼠模型中丙酸诱导的记忆和行为障碍有效。使用转移潜伏期作为高架十字迷宫记忆过程获得和保留的参数研究提取物治疗对大鼠学习和记忆的影响；这进一步证明了 Clitoria ternatea L 的记忆增强能力。与组 II 相比，提取物处理还以剂量依赖性方式显着降低大鼠脑匀浆（组 III 和 IV）中不同神经递质如血清素和谷氨酸的浓度。Clitoria ternatea L. 的乙醇根提取物被证明对自闭症大鼠模型中丙酸诱导的记忆和行为障碍有效。使用转移潜伏期作为高架十字迷宫记忆过程获得和保留的参数研究提取物治疗对大鼠学习和记忆的影响；这进一步证明了 Clitoria ternatea L 的记忆增强能力。与组 II 相比，提取物处理还以剂量依赖性方式显着降低大鼠脑匀浆（组 III 和 IV）中不同神经递质如血清素和谷氨酸的浓度。Clitoria ternatea L. 的乙醇根提取物被证明对自闭症大鼠模型中丙酸诱导的记忆和行为障碍有效。这进一步证明了 Clitoria ternatea L 的记忆增强能力。与组 II 相比，提取物处理还以剂量依赖性方式显着降低大鼠脑匀浆（组 III 和 IV）中不同神经递质如血清素和谷氨酸的浓度。Clitoria ternatea L. 的乙醇根提取物被证明对自闭症大鼠模型中丙酸诱导的记忆和行为障碍有效。这进一步证明了 Clitoria ternatea L 的记忆增强能力。与组 II 相比，提取物处理还以剂量依赖性方式显着降低大鼠脑匀浆（组 III 和 IV）中不同神经递质如血清素和谷氨酸的浓度。Clitoria ternatea L. 的乙醇根提取物被证明对自闭症大鼠模型中丙酸诱导的记忆和行为障碍有效。