An investigative study to demonstrate the link between combined intake of marijuana and codeine in Alzheimer’s disease pathology

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundAssessment of the contributory role of combined ingestion of codeine and Marijuana to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease which is the most common cause of dementia among older adults; by studying changes in spatial memory, astrocytic proliferation, Nissl bodies, lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme status.MethodTwenty (20) adult male Wistar rats used for this study were divided into four groups (n=5): the control, codeine, marijuana and a group given both codeine and marijuana. The animals were exposed to the drug treatment for ten (10) days. Behavioral tests for memory using Y maze was conducted. The animals were euthanized and brain tissues fixed in 4% PFA and processed for Cresyl fast Violet stain for Nissl bodies, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunohistochemistry for astrocytes with focus on prefronto‐hippocampus cortex. Serum antioxidant activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glucose‐6‐phosphodehydrogenase (G6PDH), Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and lipid peroxidation enzyme marker –Malondialdehyde (MDA) were accessed.ResultThe prefronto‐hippocampal cortex of rats exposed to Codeine, Marijuana (B and C) and those give both drugs (D) were characterized with loss of neurons, necrosis, chromatolysis and proliferation of astrocytes as compared with the control. However, combined drug use has more severity in the loss of loss of spatial memory, reduced number of arm entries and increased immobility time as compared with the control, codeine and Marijuana only groups. Group D, had severe decline in SOD and G6PDH serum activity and an elevation in lipid peroxidation as compared with B and C.Conclusionthe combine use of codeine and marijuana has more deleterious effects on neuron cell integrity, memory, cognition and antioxidant enzymes because it induces severe oxidative stress that predisposes to the development of Alzheimer’s disease in an individual.