Investigation of Nootropic and Neuroprotective Activity of Myristica malabarica Bark Extracts on STZ induced Cognitive Impairment in Experimental Animals

Abstract

The present study aims to assess the Myristica malabarica Bark (MM) extracts in the diabetes-induced cognitive impaired rat model for its nootropic and neuroprotective activity. Memory enhancing activity was evaluated by Y maze and Morris water maze test, respectively. Neuroprotective effects of MM bark extracts were assessed by measuring the acetylcholinesterase, lipid peroxide, superoxide dismutase (SOD), total nitric oxide (NO), catalase (CAT) and glutathione (GSH) levels in the brain of diabetic rats. The Myristica malabarica bark methyl alcohol extract (MMMA) (100 and 200 mg/kg) was observed to affect a significant improvement in spontaneous alteration (P<0.01, P<0.001) and transfer latency (P< 0.01 P<0.001) in retention trials on Y maze and Morris water maze test respectively. However, a significant reduction in acetylcholinesterase activity (P<0.001), lipid peroxide (P<0.001), total NO (P< 0.001) and a substantial increase in SOD, CAT and GSH (P<0.001) levels was observed in animals treated with MMMA (200 mg/kg) related to the diabetic control group. The current results indicate that Myristica malabarica extracts were defending the cognitive decline in diabetes condition and which requires some additional studies to clarify its mode of action.