AU - Allahtavakoli, Mohammad AU - Honari, Najmeh AU - Pourabolli, Iran AU - Kazemi Arababadi, Mohammad AU - Ghafarian, Hossein AU - Roohbakhsh, Ali AU - Esmaeili Nadimi, Ali AU - Shamsizadeh, Ali TI - Vitex Agnus Castus Extract Improves Learning and Memory and Increases the Transcription of Estrogen Receptor α in Hippocampus of Ovariectomized Rats PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE TA - BCN JN - BCN VO - 6 VI - 3 IP - 3 4099 - http://bcn.iums.ac.ir/article-1-592-en.html 4100 - http://bcn.iums.ac.ir/article-1-592-en.pdf SO - BCN 3 AB  - Introduction: Lower level of estrogen hormone is considered as an important factor for loss of learning and memory in postmenopausal women. Although estrogen replacement therapy is used for compensation, but long-term usage of estrogen is associated with a higher risk of hormonedependent cancers. Phytoestrogens, due to fewer side effects, have been proposed to prevent menopause-related cognitive decline. Methods: 24 female Wistar rats weighing 180-220 g were used in this study. The animals were ovariectomized and randomly divided into four groups including, control and two groups which received 8 and 80 mg/kg Vitex agnus castus (VAC) ethanolic extract orally. The last groups were treated with 40 μg/kg of estradiol valerat. Step-through passive avoidance (STPA) test was used for the evaluation of learning and memory. The hippocampal estrogen receptor α (ERα) expression was measured using Real-Time PCR. Results: The results demonstrated that VAC extract or estradiol had better performance on stepthrough passive avoidance test than control group (all P CP - IRAN IN - Physiology-Pharmacology Research Center, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran LG - eng PB - BCN PG - 185 PT - Original YR - 2015