OBJECTIVETo assess the neuroprotective effects of aqueous extract of Garcinia kola on neurotoxin administered malnourished mice adopting histological procedure.

METHODSThe study was carried out using thirty-two adult malnourished mice which were randomly assigned into four groups (n=8): A, B, C and D. Group A served as control, while the other groups served as the experimental groups. Animals in group A were fed malnourished diet ad libitum and given water liberally. Animals in group B were administered with 3-Nitropropionic acid (3-NP) (neurotoxin) only at 20 mg/kg body weight, group C were given only Garcinia kola extracts, and group D were pre-treated with Garcinia kola extracts at 200 mg/kg for seven days prior to administration of neurotoxin at 20 mg/kg body weight. After three days of neurotoxins administration in the relevant groups, the brains were excised and fixed in formal calcium for histological processing.

RESULTSThe study showed that hippocampal and cerebellar neurons of animals in group B exhibited some cellular degeneration and blood vessel blockage, which were not seen in groups A, C and D. Cresyl violet staining was least intense in group B than in groups A, C and D. Despite the fact that animals in group D has equal administration of 3-Nitropropionic acid concentration, there were no traces of neural degeneration as it was evidenced in group B.

CONCLUSIONSIt is concluded that Garcinia kola has protective effects on the neurons of the hippocampus and cerebellum of malnourished mice.

Animals ; Cerebellum ; drug effects ; pathology ; Garcinia kola ; chemistry ; Hippocampus ; drug effects ; pathology ; Histocytochemistry ; Malnutrition ; drug therapy ; Mice ; Neuroprotective Agents ; administration & dosage ; isolation & purification ; Plant Extracts ; administration & dosage ; isolation & purification ; Treatment Outcome

In the developed and developing world, opioid consumption in combination with alcohol has become one of the substances abused. In this experiment, we examined the effects of alcohol, morphine, and morphine+alcohol combination on cognitive functions and neuroinflammatory responses in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of juvenile male rats. Alcohol (1.0 ml of 15% v/v ethanol twice daily, subcutaneously, 7 hours apart), morphine (0.5 ml/kg of 0.4 mg/kg morphine chlorate twice daily, subcutaneously, 7 hours apart), morphine+alcohol co-treatment (0.5 ml/kg of 0.4 mg/kg morphine chlorate+1.0 ml of 15% v/v ethanol twice daily, subcutaneously, 7 hours apart) were administered for 21 days. Treatment with morphine+alcohol significantly impairs cognition functions in the Morris water maze, passive avoidance, and novel object recognition tests, furthermore, the treatment significantly increased the quantitative count of astrocytic cells and also conferred marked neuronal cell death in the mPFC, which were studied by glial fibrillary acidic protein immunochemistry for astrocytes and Cresyl violet for Nissl's substance distribution in neurons respectively. These results suggest that alcohol, morphine, and morphine+alcohol co-treatment may trigger cognitive deficits and neuroinflammatory responses in the brain.
Alcohols ; Animals ; Astrocytes ; Brain ; Cell Death ; Cognition Disorders ; Cognition* ; Ethanol ; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein ; Humans ; Immunochemistry ; Male* ; Morphine ; Neurons ; Prefrontal Cortex* ; Rats* ; Viola ; Water