Cognitive improvement of SG-Tang in STZ-treated 3×Tg-AD mice. (A) Experimental flow chart. Mice received vehicle or SG-Tang (0.4% in drinking water) from day -60 to day 38. Blood glucose (BG) and body weight (BW) and were measured on days 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29. Mice were i.p. injected by streptozocin (STZ, 100 mg/kg) or vehicle (0.1 M sodium citrate pH4.5) at days 2, 3, 9 and 10. Open field, Y-maze and Morris water maze tasks were performed on days 24, 26 and 29–36, respectively. Mice in – STZ, STZ and STZ/SG-Tang groups (B–E) received vehicle, STZ and STZ+SG-Tang, respectively during the course of the experiment. (B) Body weight and blood glucose of the mice. (C) Open field measurement of motor activities (distance traveled) and anxious mood (time inactive) in 10 min of testing period. (D) Y-maze measurement of spontaneous alternation rate in 8 min of testing period. (E) Morris water maze testing of latency to find the hidden platform (latency) in training and testing and duration in target quadrant in probe trials. P values: comparisons between STZ vs. – STZ mice (#: P < 0.05, ##: P < 0.01, ###: P < 0.001), STZ/SG-Tang vs. STZ mice (*: P < 0.05, **: P < 0.01), or STZ/SG-Tang vs. – STZ mice (&&&: P < 0.001). (One-way or two-way ANOVA with a post hoc Tukey test).