Abstract
Aims:
This research is aimed at investigating the possible effects of Virgin Coconut Oil on
Histomorphology of the prefrontal cortex of type 2 diabetes male Wister rat.
Study
Design
and Methodology:
Animals
used for this research experiment was 32 male Wistar
rats, and were grouped as follows;
Group A
-
Control group received water and feed
ad libitum
.
Group B
–
Received 0.6ml of Virgin coconut oil for 56
days
Group C
–
Received High
-
fat diet and 35
mg/kg of
streptozotocin for 3days
Group D
–
Received High fat diet ad libitum for 56days, 35mg/kg of streptozotocin for 3 days and
then 0.6ml virgin coconut oil for 28 days.
The body weights of the animals were measured every week using a weighing balance. The
neurobehavioral analysis was carried out using Barnes maze to measure spatial learning and
memory. The animals were sacrificed by cervical dislocation at the end of the experiment and the
tissue removed for histological procedures which include: Haematoxylin
& Eosin, and Cresyl fast
Violet.
Place and Duration of Study:
This work was carried out at Department of Anatomy Ben Carson
School of Medicine Babcock University Ilishan Remo, Ogun State Nigeria and the experiment
started on the 1st of February and ended on the 14th of March, 2017.
Results:
Diabetes mellitus group lost a significant amount of weight, But the Virgin Coconut oil
group animals added a significant amount of weight which suggests that VCO helps improve
appetite.
The diabetes mellitus group had
the highest latency in the Barnes maze test while the Virgin
Coconut Oil group had the lowest primary latency.
Normal histological features of the Control and VCO treated (control) groups did not show any
observable altered panoramic morphological presentation of the PFC layers. VCO treated group
showed slight degenerative changes (yellow arrows) and STZ group showed induced degenerative
changes in the cortex and was characterized by fragmented pyramidal and granule cell layer with
observable pyknotic cells
Conclusion:
Diabetes affected the prefrontal cortex negatively while virgin coconut oil seems to
neutralize the adverse effect and tried to restore the integrity of the prefrontal cortex
