Neuroprotective effect of Alpinia galanga against neurodegeneration in the rat hippocampus induced by kainic acid
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: Injection of kainic acid (KA) can induce neurodegeneration and epilepsy in the experimental study. Alpinia galanga (A. galanga) exerted various biological activities including potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. However, the neuroprotective effect in KA model has not been elucidated. Thus, the authors examined the neuroprotective effect of A. galanga extract in the hippocampal rat’s brain. Young adult male Wistar rats were randomly assigned into three groups including vehicle (sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, NaCMC) plus normal saline injection, vehicle plus KA injection and the A. galanga extract (200 mg/kg BW) plus KA injection. The rats were treated with either A. galanga extract or vehicle for two weeks before and two weeks after the injection of KA (0.8 µg) into the right hippocampus. At the end of the experiment, the rats were sacrificed and their brains were collected to determine the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and neuron density in the hippocampal CA3 subregion. KA injection into the hippocampus significantly induced neuronal loss and increased the expression of GFAP. The A. galanga extract treatment significantly attenuated the neurodegeneration induced by KA, as evident by the significant increase of neuron density but decrease the percent of GFAP immunoreactive expression compared with the vehicle-treated group with KA injection. The A. galanga extract showed the neuroprotective effect in KA-induced neurodegeneration. However, further studies are needed to explore the mechanisms of the extract to protect against neuronal loss.
Institution: University of Phayao
Language: Thai
Subfield: Complementary and alternative medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Funder: University of Phayao
OpenAlex ID: W7218127361