Xylopia aethiopica suppresses markers of oxidative stress, inflammation, and cell death in the brain of Wistar rats exposed to glyphosate.

The herbicide "Roundup" is used extensively in agriculture to control weeds. However, by translocation, it can be deposited in plants, their proceeds, and the soil, thus provoking organ toxicities in exposed individuals. Neurotoxicity among others is one of the side effects of roundup which has led to an increasing global concern about the contamination of food by herbicides. Xylopia aethiopica is known to have medicinal properties due to its antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties, and it is hypothesized to neutralize roundup-induced neurotoxicity. Thirty-six (36) Wistar rats were used for this study. The animals were shared equally into six groups with six rats each. Glyphosate administration to three of the six groups was done orally and for 1 week. Either Xylopia aethiopica or vitamin C was co-administered to two of the three groups and also administered to two other groups and the final group served as the control. Our studies demonstrated that glyphosate administration led to a significant decrease in antioxidants such as catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione, and glutathione peroxidase. We also observed a significant increase in inflammatory markers such as tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin 6, C-reactive protein, and immunohistochemical expression of caspase-3, cox-2, and p53 proteins (p < 0.05). However, Xylopia aethiopica co-administration with glyphosate was able to ameliorate the aforementioned changes when compared to the control (p < 0.05). Degenerative changes were also observed in the cerebellum, hippocampus, and cerebral cortex upon glyphosate administration. These changes were not observed in the groups treated with Xylopia aethiopica and vitamin C. Taken together, Xylopia aethiopica could possess anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties that could be used in combating glyphosate neurotoxicity.

Preliminary assessment of proanthocyanidin isolates of Vitis vinifera seed on the central nervous system of male Albino mice.

This study evaluated the potential neurobehavioral effects of proanthocyanidin-rich-fraction (PRF) obtained from Vitis vinifera seed in male Albino mice. Adult (2½- to 3-month old) male Albino mice were treated with PRF (200, 100, 50 mg/kg) and subjected to diverse behavioral models specially designed for the assessment of central nervous system-acting agents. One-shot intraperitoneal (i.p) injection of PRF (200 and 100 mg/kg) decreased the rectal temperature, exploratory activities (locomotion, rearing, and grooming), anxiety-like responses (% open-arm time, open-arm entries but decreased the total number of enclosed arm times). However, acute i.p administration of PRF decreased the total score of apomorphine-induced stereotyped behaviors, latency to hexobarbitone-induced sleep, and increased the total sleep duration. Moreover, indices of convulsion (tonic flexion, extension, clonic convulsion, stupor, and recovery time) were decreased in the PRF treatment groups, especially the PRF (50 mg/kg)-treated mice. Based on these present findings, it could therefore be inferred that systemic administration of PRF of V. vinifera seed origin induces diverse modification on the behaviors of the treated mice stemming from anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, sedative, and decrease in core temperature.

Graded doses of grape seed methanol extract attenuated ataxic movement, cerebellocortical toxicity, and impairment following chronic carbamazepine treatment in male Wistar rats.

This study investigated the effects of chronic cotreatment of carbamazepine (CBZ) with grape seed methanolic extract (GSME) on the markers of neurotoxicity and motor coordination in male rats. Thirty male Wistar rats were randomized into 5 groups (n = 6) and treated orally with propylene glycol (PG 0.1 ml/day), CBZ (25 mg/kg), CBZ (25 mg/kg) + GSME (200 mg/kg), CBZ (25 mg/kg) + GSME (100 mg/kg), or CBZ (25 mg/kg) + GSME (50 mg/kg) for 28 days. Thereafter, the animals were subjected to motor-coordination tests and, eventually, sacrificed by cervical dislocation. The cranium was opened and the brain excised. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) and cerebellum were homogenized for the biochemical assessment, while representative brain was fixed in 10% neutral-buffered formalin for the histomorphological investigation. The results were presented as mean ±â€¯SEM, analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Student-Newman-Keuls post hoc analysis where appropriate, while p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Indices of motor coordination were significantly (p = 0.0014) impaired with a significant (p = 0.0001) increase in the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the PFC and cerebellar tissue. In addition, the activities of glutathione increased (p = 0.0001) significantly in the CBZ + GSME-treated rats. All these anomalies were attenuated in the CBZ + GSME treated rats. Coadministration of GSME with CBZ may ameliorate CBZ-induced neurotoxicity, histoarchitectural disorganization of PFC and cerebellum with resultant effect on fine motor actions.