Abstract
To date, the preventive strategy against dementia is still essential due to the rapid growth of its prevalence and the limited therapeutic efficacy. Based on the crucial role of oxidative stress in age-related dementia and the antioxidant and nootropic activities of Moringa oleifera, the enhancement of spatial memory and neuroprotection of M. oleifera leaves extract in animal model of age-related dementia was determined. The possible underlying mechanism was also investigated. Male Wistar rats, weighing 180–220 g, were orally given M. oleifera leaves extract at doses of 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg at a period of 7 days before and 7 days after the intracerebroventricular administration of AF64A bilaterally. Then, they were assessed memory, neuron density, MDA level, and the activities of SOD, CAT, GSH-Px, and AChE in hippocampus. The results showed that the extract improved spatial memory and neurodegeneration in CA1, CA2, CA3, and dentate gyrus of hippocampus together with the decreased MDA level and AChE activity but increased SOD and CAT activities. Therefore, our data suggest that M. oleifera leaves extract is the potential cognitive enhancer and neuroprotectant. The possible mechanism might occur partly via the decreased oxidative stress and the enhanced cholinergic function. However, further explorations concerning active ingredient(s) are still required.
Highlights
Dementia, a serious loss of global cognitive ability including the impairments of memory, attention, language, and problem solving, is continually growing worldwide accompanied with the increased elderly population
Based on the crucial role of cholinergic function and hippocampus on learning and memory mentioned earlier, we have induced memory impairment as that observed in dementia by using the bilateral administration of AF64A, a cholinotoxin, into lateral ventricle via intracerebroventricular route in order to induce cholinergic damage in the area around lateral ventricle especially hippocampus which in turn induces spatial memory impairment
The crude extract of M. oleifera at high concentration (400 mg kg−1 resp.) significantly attenuated the reduction of neurons density in CA1, CA2, CA3 and dentate gyrus (P-value < .05, .05, .01 and .05 respectively; compared to vehicle + AF64A group) while the medium concentration (200 mg kg−1) produced a significant attenuation effect on the decreased neurons density in CA1, CA3 and dentate gyrus (P-value < .05 all compared to vehicle + AF64A group) and low dose concentration produced an attenuation effect on the decreased neurons density in CA2, CA3, and dentate gyrus (P-value < .05, .01, and .05, respectively, compared to vehicle + AF64A group)
Summary
A serious loss of global cognitive ability including the impairments of memory, attention, language, and problem solving, is continually growing worldwide accompanied with the increased elderly population. It has been estimated that there are approximately 35.6 million people with dementia worldwide [1]. Recent findings have shown that the age-related cognitive dysfunction occurs as a result of oxidative stress elevation in the brain [3], hippocampal atrophy [4], and the disturbances of neurotransmission, especially cholinergic transmission. The modulation of cholinergic function becomes the approach to dementia treatment. Most drugs still induce adverse effects [5]. This disadvantage motivates research effort to find out novel protective agent against dementia
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