NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF CUCUMIS SATIVUS ON CEREBRAL ISCHEMIA INDUCED COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT

ABSTRACT Cognitive impairment might be due to degeneration of neurons caused by cerebral ischemia. In this present study, we have used Cucumis sativus peel extract to study its neuroprotective effect on cerebral ischemia induced cognitive impairment in male wistar rats. Toxicity tests were done on the drug according to OECD guidelines 423. The animals were pretreated with three different doses (100mg/kg, 200mg/kg, and 400mg/kg of body weight) of drug extract for a period of 10 days. Cerebral ischemia was induced by bilateral common carotid artery occlusion for 30min followed by reperfusion. Cognitive functions of animals were evaluated by rectangular maze test, morris warter maze test and locomotor activity test. Biochemical tests were also conducted such as catalase activity test and DPPH activity test to know its antioxidant activity. The protective treatment with C. sativus was associated with control of the free radicals induced by reperfusion. This study demonstrates that C.sativus had potential therapeutic effects on improving the cognitive function in rats. The effect of the drug was found to be increasing as the doses were increasing. The results of the drug were compared with the disease control and found to be significant (p˂0.001). KEYWORDS: Cucumis sativus, Neuroprotection, Cerebral ischemia, Antioxidant activity