Effects of the Methanolic Extract of Vitellaria paradoxa Stem Bark Against Scopolamine-Induced Cognitive Dysfunction and Oxidative Stress in the Rat Hippocampus

Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn (Sapotaceae) is a perennial three which naturally grows in the northern part of Cameroon. It has been traditionally used in the Cameroonian folk medicine for treating inflammation and pain. In the present study, we evaluate the possible anti-amnesic and antioxidative effects of the methanolic extract of V. paradoxa stem bark in an Alzheimer’s disease (AD) rat model of scopolamine. Rats received a single injection of scopolamine (1.5 mg/kg) before behavioral testing and were treated with the methanolic extract (25 and 50 mg/kg), daily, for eight continuous days. Also, the antioxidant activity in the hippocampus was assessed using the total content of reduced glutathione and malondialdehyde levels. The scopolamine-treated rats exhibited the following: decrease of exploratory time and discrimination index within the novel object recognition test, decrease of spontaneous alternations percentage within Y-maze task, and increase of working memory errors, reference memory errors, and time taken to consume all five baits within radial arm-maze task. Administration of the methanolic extract significantly improved these parameters, suggesting positive effects on memory formation processes and antioxidant potential. Our results suggest that the methanolic extract ameliorates scopolamine-induced memory impairment by attenuation of the oxidative stress in the rat hippocampus.