Abstract
Aims:
The aim of this investigation is to study the effect of virgin coconut oil on the prefrontal
cortex upon aluminium chloride
-
induced Alzheimer
-
likes dementia.
Study
Design
and Methodology:
Twenty
-
eight (28) adult male Wistar rats were used and were
randomly assigned into four groups:
Group
A: Considered to be the control group which took water and food daily.
Group
B: Virgin coconut oil treated group, were administered virgin coconut oil o
rally with 1700
mg/kg BW for 42 days.
Group
C: Aluminium chloride treated group, were administered Aluminium chloride orally with 200
mg/kg BW for 42 days.
Group
D: Aluminium chloride + virgin coconut oil treated group, the Wistar rats were administered
A
luminium chloride orally with 200 mg/BW for 21 days and then virgin coconut oil orally with 1700
mg/BW for the next 21 days.
The neurobehavioural investigation was done after the experiment to evaluate learning and
memory using Barnes Maze. Animals were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. The whole brain was
carefully excised from the skull. Prefrontal cortex was removed and fixed in 10% formal saline for
histological analysis which includes H&E stain for general histoarchitecture and Cresyl fast violet
for
Nissl substance.
Place and Duration of Study:
The study was done in Babcock University and approved by the
Babcock University Ethics commission (BUHREC) with the BUHREC number 672/16. The
experiment took the total of 45
days.
Results:
Neurobehavioral stud
y revealed a significant high latency in the animals treated with
Aluminium chloride when compared with control and other treated groups
H &E technique, as well as Cresyl
fast violet, did not show any observable altered morphological
presentation in the control and VCO treated groups. Also, a cellular density between the control
and virgin coconut oil group appears normal across the cortical layers with appreciable spines
and
neuronal projections. The Aluminium chloride treated group induced degenerative changes in the
cortex and was characterized by fragmented pyramidal and granule cell layer with observable
pyknotic cells. Also, there was a comparatively increased cell density in the cortical layers of the
VCO and Aluminium chloride + VCO treated groups.
Conclusion:
Findings from this study support the view that, virgin coconut oil has ameliorative
effects which
neutralize the adverse effect of Aluminum chloride and tried
to restore the integrity of
the prefrontal cortex
