The effect of Umbelliferae family extract on the neural markers expression profile of Sprague Dawley Rats' hippocampus /
Introduction: Research on herbal plants has gained increasing interest globally. One of such plants is from the Umbelliferae family of species Centella asiatica (CA), which has been demonstrated to possess anti-oxidant property and enhance memory in a number of in vito studies. Hippocampus is the br...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2017.
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| Summary: | Introduction: Research on herbal plants has gained increasing interest globally. One of such plants is from the Umbelliferae family of species Centella asiatica (CA), which has been demonstrated to possess anti-oxidant property and enhance memory in a number of in vito studies. Hippocampus is the brain region that is responsible for memory. Memory loss or cognitive impairment has been shown to prominently be associated with damaged of hippocampal neurons as seen in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Presently, there is no cure for the disease. Medications for AD only target to ease the symptoms of the disease, majority with side effects. Therefore, CA, with its above mentioned properties. is hoped to be the potentiaI alternative approach that can act as the prevention adjunct for AD. Problem Statement: However, the effect of CA on the RNA expression of neural markers particularly of hippocampus in rats' brain has not been elucidated. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of raw extract of CA (RECA) on the expression of post mitotic and cholinergic neurons as well as glial cells at RNA level on rats' hippocampus. Methodology: The first part of the project involved the reconstitution of RECA (a gift from Prof Dr. Mohd Ilham Adenan, UiTM) with normal saline before being used. The second part involved the animal work upon approval from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), UPM [ref: UPM/IACUC/AUP-R026/2016]). All animal work was carried out in Comparative Medicine and Technology Unit (COMeT), UPM. 36 male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats aged 10 weeks were fed with RECA solution at non-detrimental dosages via oral gavage once daily for 21 days. The rats were divided into four groups: normal saline (as control), and RECA solution respectively at 100mg/kg, 200mg/kg and 300mg/kg. After 21 days, the treatment was stopped and the rats were sacrificed three days later using urethane at 1.3 g/kg through intraperitoneal (IP) injection. Finally the brain was removed. weighed and the hippocampus was isolated and weighted. The RNA was extracted from hippocampus and converted into cDNA prior to polymeruse chain reaction (PCR). Gene expression analysis for post-mitotic (class III β-tubulin) and cholinergic neurons [acethylcholine esterase (AChE)], and glial cells [glial fibrillary acidic protein (gfap)] were assessed and semi-quantified using ImageJ analysis. All results were analysed using one-way ANOVA with p≤ 0.05 is considered as statistically significant. Result: A higher expression of markers for post-mitotic and cholinergic neurons was observed upon treatment with RECA compared to control group. Conclusion: RECA has high potential to act as a good neural inducer which could be usehl as the prevention adjunct for neurodegenerative diseases as well as the memory booster. |
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| Physical Description: | 64 leaves : ill. ; 30cm. |