Anti-amnesic effect of ethanol stem bark extract and fractions of Milicia excelsa (Moraceae) in mice.
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2020
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Dschang, Cameroon
Abstract
Background: Amnesia is associated with normal aging and neuropsychiatric disorders with no known medical cure.
Medicinal plants used in traditional medicines to combat neuropsychiatric disorders may be a veritable vehicle
towards providing the appropriate drug candidate(s).
Methods: Hence, this study assessed the anti-amnesic potential of Milicia excelsa stem bark upon its widespread
use in traditional medicine for treating mental illnesses. The anti-amnesic potentials of ethanol stem bark extract
and fractions were investigated using mouse models of scopolamine-, and diazepam-induced amnesia on Y-maze.
Results: The result obtained showed that the crude ethanol extract, ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions at all the
doses used (75, 150 and 300 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly (p<0.05) reversed the amnesia induced by scopolamine (1
mg/kg, i.p.) and diazepam (1 mg/kg, i.p.) in mice. The n-hexane at 300 mg/kg and aqueous fraction at 75 and 150
mg/kg significantly (p<0.05) ameliorated the amnesia induced by scopolamine in scopolamine-induced amnesia.
Conclusion: This study, therefore, concludes that the extract and its fractions may possess anti-amnesic effect.
However, further studies may be carried out to isolate and characterize the anti-amnesic bioactive principle(s) in
ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions that showed consistent anti-amnesic potentials in the scopolamine-, and
diazepam-induced amnesic models used. The in-vivo antioxidant and acetylcholinesterase assays of these active
fractions should also be carried out to corroborate the observed anti-amnesic effect.
Description
Keywords
Scopolamine-induced amnesia; diazepam-induced amnesia; Y-maze; ethylacetate fraction; n-butanol fraction.