The Flavonoid Rich Black Currant (Ribes nigrum) Ethanolic Gemmotherapy Extract Elicits Neuroprotective Effect by Preventing Microglial Body Swelling in Hippocampus and Reduces Serum TNF-α Level: Pilot Study.

Many plant-derived flavonoids are known for their anti-neuroinflammatory and anti-neurodegenerative effects. The fruits and leaves of the black currant (BC, Ribes nigrum) contain these phytochemicals with therapeutic benefits. The current study presents a report on a standardized BC gemmotherapy extract (BC-GTE) that is prepared from fresh buds. It provides details about the phytoconstituent profile specific to the extract as well as the associated antioxidant and anti-neuroinflammatory properties. The reported BC-GTE was found to contain approximately 133 phytonutrients, making it unique in its composition. Furthermore, this is the first report to quantify the presence of significant flavonoids such as luteolin, quercetin, apigenin, and kaempferol. Drosophila melanogaster-based tests revealed no cytotoxic but nutritive effects. We also demonstrated that adult male Wistar rats, pretreated with the analyzed BC-GTE and assessed after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection, did not show any apparent increase in body size in the microglial cells located in the hippocampal CA1 region, while in control experiments, the activation of microglia was evident. Moreover, no elevated levels of serum-specific TNF-α were observed under the LPS-induced neuroinflammatory condition. The analyzed BC-GTE's specific flavonoid content, along with the experimental data based on an LPS-induced inflammatory model, suggest that it possesses anti-neuroinflammatory/neuroprotective properties. This indicates that the studied BC-GTE has the potential to be used as a GTE-based complementary therapeutic approach.

Whole-body pulsed EMF stimulation improves cognitive and psychomotor activity in senescent rats.

During advanced aging passive exercise (PE) is becoming a valuable therapeutic intervention to improve physical and mental performances. In the present study chronic low frequency pulsed electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure was presented to senescent rats in order to clarify the behavioural effects related to cognitive and motility functions. Male Wistar rats of 30-32 months old were treated with EMF for six weeks, 3 times per week, 24 min per sessions prior to the age of 32 months. Stimulation intensities varied from 45 to 1250 µT. Psychomotility was estimated in an open field (OF), attention ability in novel object recognition (NOR), and spatial learning in the Morris water maze (MWM) tests. The results showed that EMF stimulation enhanced novelty-induced motility of vertical type, i.e. frequency of rearing activity was increased. In the cognitive tests EMF exposure increased attention-based discrimination in NOR and facilitated working memory type of spatial learning in the MWM tests. No undesirable type of side effects could be obtained even after the highest dose used. It is concluded that EMF stimulation in senescent age supports cognitive and psychomotor function in rats. The notion that PE may have complementary beneficial action on brain and motor functions in senescent age is strengthened by the present experimental results.