Compound from Rhodiola plant improved memory in mice in study

Rhodiola rosea is a traditional medicinal plant used to improve brain function. The researchers discovered the substance FAE-20 to have a memory-enhancing effect. Photo by Oct. 25 (UPI) — An active ingredient from the medicinal plant Rhodiola rosea may improve memory, according to a study with flies and mice. The plant has been known to increase mental performance, but researchers wanted to find out which specific substances improved memory. Their findings were published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances. Rhodiola rosea, which is also called golden root, rose root and roseroot, grows naturally in wild Arctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It has been long used to treat several disorders, notably including treatment of anxiety and depression. "In order to make this knowledge useful for medicine, we wanted to find out which specific substances from Rhodiola improve memory," first author Dr. Birgit Michels, from the Leibniz Institutes for Neurobiology and for Plant Biochemistry in Germany, said in a press release . "After all, without an identified active ingredient no targeted dosage and plant breeding, no quality control and therefore no drug development are possible." In initial tests on fly larvae, they isolated the substance ferulic acid eicosyl ester, or FAE-20, which promotes memory performance. "Although it is a chemically simple molecule, identifying it as an effective component of the plant extract was not trivial," said Dr. Ludger Wessjohann from the Institute for Plant Biochemistry. "It is more complicated to relate cognitive performance, such as the ability to learn, to the hundreds of natural substances in the plant than it is, for example, to search for new antibiotics." But they found the pure substance synthesized in laboratory provided clear proof of the effect of FAE-20. They next wanted to find if it was possible to improve the memory […]

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