Abstract

EVALUATION OF LEARNING AND MEMORY ENHANCING ACTIVITY OF COMMIPHORA CAUDATA LEAVES IN RATS

Meera Sumanth* and Yashashwini Y. C.

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the learning and memory enhancing activity of the Commiphora caudata leaves in rats using Elevated plus maze (EPM), Hebb-William maze (HWM) and Morris water maze (MWM ) and to evaluate brain Acetylcholine esterase activity, lipid peroxidation, Superoxide dismutase, Catalase, Glutathione. Materials and methods: Wistar rats (100-150 gm) of either sex, were divided into 5 groups (n=6). Group-I (control) animals received vehicle, Group-II animals received scopolamine (0.4 mg/kg i.p), Groups III ,IV and V animals received Commiphora caudata- 200 mg/kg p.o, 400 mg/kg p.o and Piracetam (400 mg/kg i.p) respectively for 27 days, followed by scopolamine (0.4 mg/kg i.p) single dose on 19th and 27th day. Assessment of transfer latency (TL), time taken to reach reward chamber (TRC) and swim latency (SL) was done on 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 27th day using EPM, HWM and MWM respectively. Rats were sacrificed on 28th day, brain acetylcholine esterase activity, lipid peroxidation, superoxide dismutase, glutathione and catalase levels were estimated. The data was analysed by one way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s test. P ≤ 0.05 was considered significant.Result: Commiphora caudata decreased TL, TRC and SL in comparison to scopolamine treated rats, decreased acetylcholine esterase activity and lipid peroxidation, and increased superoxide dismutase, glutathione and catalase in brain. Conclusion: The Commiphora caudata enhanced learning and memory activity. This nootropic effect can be attributed to their antioxidant and neuroprotective property.

Keywords: Memory, EPM, HWM, MWM, Piracetam, Scopolamine.