Scopolamine-Induced Alzheimer’s Disease in Wistar Rats: Aqueous Talinum Triangulare Potency on the Hippocampal Nissl Bodies and Long-Term Learning and Memory

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is a chronic neurodegenerative ailment represented clinically by studying and recalling alteration by pathologies such as intracellular neurofibrillary tangles and extracellular amyloid plaques. The study aimed at elucidating the potency of aqueous extract of Talinum triangulare leaves on the hippocampal neurons as well as assessing the long term learning and memory of scopolamine-induced Alzheimer's type rats. Fifty-four Wistar rats (180-200 g) were used for the study; thirty rats were grouped into five groups; A, B, C, D and E while twenty-four rats were used to establish LD50. Alzheimer's type cognitive dysfunction was intraperitoneally (ip) induced with scopolamine hydrobromide (SHB) (1 mg/kg, ip) for seven days in groups B-E prior to the oral administration of the extract (875 and 1750 mg/kg and donepezil (1 mg/kg), followed by the Morris water maze test and histochemical staining process (Cresyl Fast Violet stains). The results revealed that the Nissl bodies were mild to moderately stained indicating protein synthesis. The enhancement of learning and memory were also seen in the treated groups compared to the untreated group. The ameliorative potentials may be attributed to the antioxidative properties of Talinum triangulare leaves which restored cells, increased protein synthesis hence, leading to enhanced learning and memory. From the above results, Talinum triangulare has ameliorative effect on the hippocampus of scopolamine-induced Alzheimer's type cognitive dysfunction in Wistar rats.