Low-salt Todarodes pacificus Jeotgal improves the Learning and Memory Impairments in Scopolamine-induced Dementia Rats

【We investigated the effect low salt (2 or 4% salt) concentrations jeotgal made from Todarodes pacificus on the learning and memory impairments in scopolamine-induced (2 mg/kg, i.p.) dementia rats. Rats treated with oral BF-7 (200 mg/kg, p.o.) as a positive control and Todarodes pacificus jeotgal had significantly reduced scopolamine-induced memory deficits in the passive avoidance test. The Morris water maze test or treatment with 2% salt jeotgal made from Todarodes pacificus significantly ameliorated the scopolamine-induced memory deficits in the formation of long- and short-term memory. The acetylcholine content and acetylcholinesterase acitivity paralleled the results of the behavior experiment. There were no significant differences in the brain acetylcholine contents of the experimental groups, while the brain acetylcholine content of the group treated with 2% salt Todarodes pacificus jeotgal was higher than that of the control group. The inhibitory effect of 2% salt jeotgal made from Todarodes pacificus on the acetylcholinesterase activity in the brain was lower than that of the control group. These trends were similar to those of the gamma-aminobutyric acid content. We suggest that Todarodes pacificus jeotgal enhances learning memory and cognitive function by regulating cholinergic enzymes.】