Withania somnifera root powder protects againist post-traumatic stress disorder-induced memory impairment

Since withania somnifera (WS or “ashwagandha”) is widely used in ayurvedic medicine and is known to potentially have a role in neurodegenerative diseases, this 2019 study investigated the effect of WS on memory impairment due to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in animal models. To induce the animals into PTSD, the single-prolonged rat model was adopted. This involved restraint for 2 hours, forced swimming for 20 minutes, rest for 15 minutes, and diethyl ether exposure for 1-2 minutes. This successfully induced short and long-term memory impairments due to PTSD. The dosing of the WS root powder extract was decided as 500mg/kg/day orally, which was shown to prevent the memory decline induced by PTSD. In addition, WS prevented PTSD-induced changes in oxidative stress biomarkers in the hippocampus. The study concluded that administration of 500mg/kg per day prevented PTSD-induced effects such as memory impairment, probably through preserving changes in antioxidant mechanisms in the hippocampus. [NPID: withania somnifera, WS, WSE, ashwagandha, anxiety, herbs, ayurvedic, neurodegenerative, PTSD, memory, hippocampus]

Year: 2019

Reference: Alzoubi, K. H., Al Hilo, A. S., Al-Balas, Q. A., El-Salem, K., El-Elimat, T., & Alali, F. Q. (2019). Withania somnifera root powder protects againist post-traumatic stress disorder-induced memory impairment. Molecular biology reports, 46(5), 4709–4715. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-019-04915-3