EVALUATION OF THE NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF HYDROETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF DIOSPYROS MESPILLIFORMIS TRUNK BARK (EBENACEA) ON DIAZEPAM-INDUCED AMNESIA IN MICE

Abstract

Diospyros mespilliformis (DM) is a plant of the Ebonaceae family that is commonly used in traditional medicine to treat epilepsy and schizophrenia. Radial arm mazes (RAM), Y mazes, and the novel object recognition test (NOR) were used to assess working and reference memory in mice. After the different tests, the hippocampus of the animals was separated for the determination of biochemical markers such as acetylcholinesterase (AchE), malondialdehyde (MDA), and superoxide dismutase (SOD). The plant extract produced a significant rise in the percentage of alternation of mice in the Y-maze test, the time to observe the new object at the dose of 50 mg/kg (p<0.01), and the discrimination index (p<0.001) in all animals treated with the extract compared to the negative control. The result of the RAM test showed a significant decrease (p<0.05) in the number of errors on the reference memory in animals treated with the extract at 100 mg/kg. The extract significantly decreased AchE activity, and MDA concentration, and significantly increased SOD activity compared to the negative control group. These effects of the hydroethanolic extract on working memory and reference DM extract would be related to the phenolic compounds quantified in the plant extract.

Keywords

• Diospyros mespilliformis, amnesia, Diazepam; working memory, reference memory