AGENT FOR RECONSTRUCTING NEURAL NETWORK COMPRISING CHINESE MEDICINE FORMULATION AND METHOD OF RECONSTRUCTING NEURAL NETWORK

摘要

[PROBLEMS] Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, senile dementia, cerebrovascular dementia and Parkinson's disease indicate symptoms with disorders in memory and cognition due to impairments in the neural network, though causal factors thereof vary from disease to disease. Since there is no efficacious means of treating these diseases, it has been required to establish a therapy whereby nerve functions can be brought toward normality even in the case where impairments in the neural network have already proceeded. Thus, it is intended to develop a Chinese medicine formulation usable in such a therapy. [MEANS FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS] Cultured nerve cells are made into a state showing contraction of axons and dendrites and decreases in the presynaptic and postsynaptic elements. Then attempts are made to search for a Chinese medicine formulation by which the nerve cells in the above-described state can be treated so that the neurites and synapses of the nerve cells can be normalized. As a result, it is found out that a Chinese medicine formulation comprising an extract of notoginseng radix and/or ginseng radix, astragalus root, calamus and hoelen is useful as an agent for reconstructing the neural network.