Context: Scopolamine, a muscarinic receptor antagonist, causes memory loss that resembles Alzheimer's disease (AD). Echium amoenum L. (Boraginaceae) is a famous medicinal plant of Iran that is traditionally used as a sedative and mood enhancer.
Objective: This study evaluates the effect of hydroalcoholic extract of E. amoenum flowers on scopolamine-induced memory impairment in rats.
Materials and methods: Fifty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups. Control group received normal saline, model group received scopolamine (0.7 mg/kg, IP, daily for 21 days), and test groups received E. amoenum extract (50, 75, and 100 mg/kg, IP, daily for 21 days) 30 min before each scopolamine injection. The elevated plus maze (EPM), shuttle box, novel object and rotarod tests were performed after treatment. Brain levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant capacity (TCA) were also determined.
Results: Scopolamine-treated rats spent more time exploring the novel object compared to the control, and E. amoenum extract at all three doses significantly decreased the time spent exploring the novel object (p < 0.05). E. amoenum extract (75 and 100 mg/kg) significantly elongated the secondary latency in rats receiving scopolamine in the shuttle box test (p < 0.05). In addition, treatment with 75 and 100 mg/kg doses of E. amoenum extract significantly ameliorated scopolamine-induced motor in coordination in rotarod test (p < 0.05). It also significantly increased the time spent in the open arms and reduced the time spent in the closed arms of EPM (p < 0.05). Treatment of scopolamine-exposed rats with E. amoenum extract significantly increased TCA and reduced MDA level of brain (p < 0.05).
Discussion and conclusions: E. amoenum extract shows protective effect against scopolamine-induced impairment and is suggested to be tested in clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy on AD.
Keywords: Cognitive performance; anxiety; locomotor activity.