The Impact of Prunus domestica L. Crude Extract on Methotrexate-induced Cognitive Deficits in Adult Rats
Keywords:
Prunus domestica L, Methotrexate, MemoryAbstract
Background and Objective: Methotrexate (MTX) is a chemotherapy drug used to treat various cancers. MTX is toxic to neural progenitor cells in the hippocampus and affects hippocampus dependent behavior. Prunus domestica L. (PD), a species of plum belonging to the Rosaceae family and Prunus genus, is rich in phenolic compounds. These phenolic-rich fruits contain a mixture of polyphenolic compounds that can exert several biological effects, including antibacterial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties.
Methods: Male Spraque-Dawley rats were divided into eight groups: vehicle, MTX (75 mg/kg), PD (75, 100 and 150 mg/kg), and MTX + PD (75 mg/kg plus 75, 100 and 150 mg/kg). After drug administration, spatial and recognition memories were investigated using the novel object location (NOL) and the novel object recognition (NOR) tests, respectively.
Result: The NOL and NOR tests analysis indicated that neither PD extract nor MTX adversely affected body weight or locomotor activity. Following drug administration, the discrimination index (DI) of all experimental groups differed significantly from zero, except for the MTX group. This suggests that MTX induced impairments in spatial and recognition memory, and PD extract was shown to mitigate the memory deficits caused by MTX.
Conclusion: These results showed that MTX treatment caused learning and memory deficits. These impairments were alleviated by co-treatment with PD.
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