study the effect of semililtm on expression of daxx, nfkb and vegf genes in the streptozotocin-rat model of sporadic alzheimer's disease

sporadic alzheimer’s disease (sad) is a multi-factorial disease caused by genetic, epigenetic, environmental and metabolic factors. current understandings of the possible mechanisms of ad such as inflammation and oxidative stresses in the brain have led us to investigation of potential ad therapeutics. currently herbal medicines with fewer side effects comparing to other chemical medicine are in the point of attention.  semililtm is a herbal extract with possible role as an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant agent that can improve the blood circulation, lymphedema and immune system functions. among genes that have been implicated in sad, three genes including daxx, nfkb and vegf have shown significant statistical diversity in alzheimer human brain as apoptosis mediator, pro-inflammatory transcription factor and key factor in orchestrating angiogenesis respectively. with this knowledge these genes have been chosen in our study to be investigated for neuroprotective effect of semilil. this study was performed by comparing the expression level of the mentioned genes in the hippocampus of sad rat model using qpcr method in treated and untreated groups. the therapeutic effect of this extract was studied at the behavioral, learning and memory level using morris water maze (mwm) test as well. five rat groups (control, sham, sad model, herbal extract treated and ethanol treated) were used for the study. drug interventions were started on the 21st day after modeling and each treatment group received the drug by intra-peritoneal route for 21 days. gene expressions were measured using qpcr technique among groups. mwm was applied to determine the spatial learning and memory ability of the rats. all genes showed lower expression in sad rat’s model comparing to control group but only nfkb gene showed higher expression in sad rat’s model treated with herbal extract. two other genes did not show any expression change between the studied groups. in mwm, the significant changes in spatial learning that had been observed in rat’s model group did not show any alteration in the herbal-treated group.