Beneficial Effects of Citrus aurantium Extract in Animal Model of Alzheimer's Disease

摘要

The well-known cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease (AD), in which β-Amyloid (Aβ) deposition results in neuronal death. In Iran, Citrus aurantium (CA) flowers are used in the treatment of different neurological disorders. In this study, we examined the protective effects of CA flowers extract (CAFE) against memory impairments induced by Aβ. Adult male Sprague-Dawely rats assigned to three groups (n=8) of: control (Aβ, 3 μl intracerebroventricular, ICV), vehicle (normal saline, 3 μl ICV) and CAFE pre-treated groups (300 mg/kg, IP, for 21 days). Twelve days after Alzheimer induction, behavioral analysis Morris Water Maze (MWM), as well as, western blot and morphological studies were carried out to explore CAFE effect on male rats of Alzheimer. Administration of CAFE significantly restored memory and learning impairments induced by Aβ in the MWM test. CAFE significantly decreased the cytochrome-c expression level in pre-treated group (p0.05). In addition, the used extract reduced the number of degenerated neurons in the hippocampal CA1 area of the pre-treated rats (P0.001). These results demonstrate that CAFE has some beneficial effects in animal model of Alzheimer’s diseases.