Abstract
Mesua ferrea Linn. flowers have been used in Ayurveda as a brain tonic and as an ingredient in memory-enhancing formulations such as Brahma Rasayan and Chyawanprash. However, this ethnomedicinal use has not been investigated scientifically. This study evaluated the effect of the ethanolic extract of Mesua ferrea flowers (MFE) on memory in scopolamine-induced models of cognitive dysfunction. MFE was administered to rats (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg, p.o) for a period of 14 days, after which amnesia was induced by giving scopolamine (1 mg/kg, s.c) on the 14th day. Piracetam (200 mg/kg, p.o) was given as a positive control. The models employed to assess memory in the rats were the T-maze continuous alternation task (T-CAT) and novel object recognition test (NORT). Pretreatment with MFE ameliorated the memory deficit caused by scopolamine; which was evidenced by a significantly greater relative proportion of spontaneous alternation percentage in the T-CAT, and a significant increase of discrimination index in the NORT. Further, MFE significantly inhibited anticholinesterase activity in the brain, elevated the levels of reduced glutathione and catalase, and decreased malondialdehyde and nitrite levels in the brain. The results of this study show that MFE exhibited significant anticholinesterase and antioxidant activities in scopolamine treated rats, which could be the possible underlying mechanism of its memory-enhancing activity and of its ethnomedicinal use as a brain tonic.
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Abbreviations
- ABTS:
-
2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)
- ACh:
-
Acetylcholine
- AChE:
-
Acetylcholinesterase
- AD:
-
Alzheimer’s disease
- ANOVA:
-
Analysis of variance
- ATC:
-
Acetylthiocholine iodide
- CAT:
-
Catalase
- CPCSEA:
-
Committee for purpose of control and supervision of experiments on animals
- DI:
-
Discrimination Index
- DPPH:
-
2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl
- DTNB:
-
5,5’-dithio-bis (2-nitrobenzoic acid)
- GAE:
-
Gallic acid equivalents
- GSH:
-
Glutathione
- IAEC:
-
Institutional Animal Ethics Committee
- LTP:
-
Long-term potentiation
- MDA:
-
Malondialdehyde
- MFE:
-
Mesua ferrea flowers ethanolic extract
- NORT:
-
Novel object recognition test
- PIR:
-
Piracetam
- RE:
-
Rutin equivalents
- ROS:
-
Reactive oxygen species
- SEM:
-
Standard error of mean
- SCOP:
-
Scopolamine
- TBARS:
-
Thiobarbituric acid
- TCA:
-
Trichloroacetic acid
- T-CAT:
-
T-maze continuous alternation task
- TFC:
-
Total flavonoid content
- TPC:
-
Total phenolic content
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The authors would wish to thank the Principal and the administration of AISSMS College of Pharmacy, Pune, Maharashtra for providing the necessary facilities and equipment for the conduction of the studies.
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Pallavi Shirsat-John – planned and performed experiments and biochemical analysis, data collection, statistical analysis, and drafting of the article; Tina Saldanha – data analysis and interpretation, critical revision of the article; Swati Kolhe – project planning and supervision; Ziyaurrahman A.R. – supervision of the research work and in-charge of overall direction and planning.
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The guidelines established by the CPCSEA (Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals), Govt. of India, were followed for the animal experiments. The protocols were approved by the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee of AISSMS College of Pharmacy, Pune (Reg. No. – 257/PO/ReBi/S/2000/CPCSEA).
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Shirsat‑John Pallavi has no conflict of interest. Tina Saldanha has no conflict of interest. Swati Kolhe has no conflict of interest. A. R. Ziyaurrahman has no conflict of interest.
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Shirsat-John, P., Saldanha, T., Kolhe, S. et al. Antiamnesic effect of Mesua ferrea (L.) flowers on scopolamine-induced memory impairment and oxidative stress in rats. ADV TRADIT MED (ADTM) 23, 1109–1121 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13596-022-00654-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13596-022-00654-2