Fig. 2.
Oral Ashwagandha (ASH) administration ameliorated performance of hTDP-43A315T mice on rotarod and passive avoidance tasks. ASH or vehicle (Veh)-treated male or female mice were trained to run on an accelerating rotarod (speed 3 rpm; acceleration 0.2 rpm/s) and the latency to fall was recorded. The maximum score of 3 trials for each mouse is represented. A significant increase was observed in the latency to fall in mice treated with ASH as compared with Veh-treated controls from 5 weeks post-treatment onwards. Discontinuation of ASH treatment resulted in gradual decrease in latency in both male and female mice (a, b). Data were compared using an unpaired t test with Welch’s correction (#p < 0.01; **p < 0.001; *p < 0.0001). After 8 weeks of treatments, male (c) and female (d) mice were subjected to the passive avoidance test to assess memory function based on the association formed with an nociceptive stimulus. The results clearly demonstrated a significant increase in memory retention in ASH-treated mice of either sex in comparison to Veh-treated controls. These data were analyzed by Kruskal–Wallis test with Dunn's multiple comparison post-test (##p < 0.01)