Ginsenoside Rg1 alleviates repeated alcohol exposure-induced psychomotor and cognitive deficits

Background Chronic alcohol consumption disrupts psychomotor and cognitive functions, most of which are subserved by the dysfunction of hippocampus. Dysregulated excitatory glutamatergic transmission is implicated in repeated alcohol induced psychomotor and cognitive impairment. Ginsenoside Rg1, one of the main active ingredient of the traditional tonic medicine Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer (Araliaceae), has been used to treat cognitive deficits. Particularly, Rg1 has been demonstrated to improve hippocampus-dependent learning in mice and attenuate glutamate-induced excitotoxicity in vitro. Thus, in the present research, we sought to investigate the therapeutic effects of Ginsenoside Rg1 on repeated alcohol induced psychomotor and cognitive deficits in hippocampal-dependent behavioral tasks and unravel the underpinnings of its neuroprotection. Methods Male ICR (CD-1) mice were consecutively intragastrically treated with 20% (w/v) alcohol for 21 days. Then, behavior tests were conducted to evaluate repeated alcohol induced psychomotor and cognitive deficits. Histopathological changes, and biochemical and molecular alterations were assessed to determine the potential neuroprotective mechanism of Rg1. Results The results suggested that Rg1, at the optimal dose of 6 mg/kg, has the potential to ameliorate repeated alcohol induced cognitive deficits by regulating activities of NR2B containing NMDARs and excitotoxic signaling. Conclusion Our findings further provided a new strategy to treat chronic alcohol exposure induced adverse consequences.