Abstract
Dichrocephala integrifolia is a plant widely used in folk medicine in Africa to treat central nervous diseases such as dementia. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of the leave’s decoction of Dichrocephala integrifolia against D-galactose-induced neurotoxicity, oxidative stress and accelerated aging in mice. D-galactose (100 mg/ kg sc), was chronically injected daily to mice during 42 consecutive days after pretreatment with distilled water (10 ml/kg) or the decoction of D. integrifolia (35; 87.5; 175 or 350 mg/kg p.o) or vitamin C (100 mg/kg p.o). Following behavioral tasks (Open Field, Elevated Plus Maze and Morris Water Maze), animals were sacrificed on day 43 and their brains were used to evaluate some biochemical parameters of oxidative stress (malondialdehyde, nitrite oxide and reduced glutathione) and for histopathological assessments. The results of this study showed that a pretreatment of animals with the decoction of D. integrifolia at the doses of 87.5 and 175 mg/kg significantly (p˂0.05) reversed learning deficits, recall of memories and oxidative stress induced by D-galactose. The decoction of D. integrifolia also prevented neurogeneration in the dentate gyrus induced by D-galactose. These results indicated that D. integrifolia possesses neuroprotective effects against D-galactose-induced senescence, probably due to its antioxidant capacities and this can at least explain the wide use of this plant in traditional medicine in Cameroon in the prevention and treatment of dementia.
Highlights
Aging is a gradual and inevitable physiological process, which affects all living organisms
There are cumulative evidences pointing to the involvement of oxidative stress in mitochondrial dysfunction, neuronal loss observed in the aging brain, and subsequent neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) [3,4,5,6]
Effects of D. integrifolia on locomotor activity of D-galactose treated mice 42 days of administration of D-gal did not significantly modify the locomotion of animal when compared to distilled water group
Summary
Aging is a gradual and inevitable physiological process, which affects all living organisms. In humans, it is characterized by alterations in cellular homeostatic mechanisms leading to diverse health problems such as reduction in hearing and vision, increase in body weight, diabetes, hypertension and a range of central nervous disorders [1, 2]. The aging brain is characterized by a decrease in cortical gray matter, a reduction in neurotransmission, a massive loss of neuron and reduction of complexity of neuronal correlation. Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease are among the most age related central nervous diseases [3]. Due to the increase live expectancy, age related central nervous disorders have become a major health concern. There are cumulative evidences pointing to the involvement of oxidative stress in mitochondrial dysfunction, neuronal loss observed in the aging brain, and subsequent neurodegenerative diseases such as AD [3,4,5,6]
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