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Planta Med 1999; 65(5): 421-424
DOI: 10.1055/s-1999-14085
Papers
Pharmacology
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Prevention by a Silymarin/Phospholipid Compound of Ethanol-Induced Social Learning Deficits in Rats

Chris Reid1 , Joel Edwards1 , Mu Wang1 , Yvonne Manybeads1 , Lusandra Mike1 , Nancy Martinez1 , Linda La Grange1 , Edward Reyes2
  • 1Department of Behavioral Sciences, New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas, NM, U.S.A.
  • 2Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Health Sciences Center, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, U.S.A.
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Publication History

1998

1999

Publication Date:
04 January 2007 (online)

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Abstract

We explored the possibility that silymarin (SY), a fraction from Silybum marianum, might protect against the effects of in utero exposure to ethanol upon subsequent social memory function. Three groups of 8 pregnant female Sprague-Dawley rats each were provided with a liquid diet containing 35% ethanol derived calories (EDC). One experimental group received a daily subcutaneous injection of 400 mg/kg SY, the second, a 400 mg/kg oral dose of SY, a third group was maintained on the 35% EDC diet. A fourth group served as the pair-fed control group. The liquid diet regimen was maintained throughout pregnancy. Rats pups were fostered by dams in a fifth group that had been maintained on rat chow. At 90 days the pups were tested for social memory. Social recognition scores recorded for the ethanol pups were significantly poorer than those observed in both SY/ethanol groups and the chow group.

Key words

Fetal alcohol syndrome - silymarin - social recognition - Silybum marianum - Asteraceae

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