Garcinia kola improves cognitive and motor function of a rat model of acute radiation syndrome in the elevated plus maze

Nene Ahidjo; Leonard Ngarka; Paul F Seke Etet; Wepnyu Y Njamnshi; Leonard N Nfor; Michel K Mengnjo; Jonas G Basseguin Atchou; Edmond N Mouofo; Godwin Y Tatah; Faustin Dong A Zok; Bonaventure T Ngadjui; Wilfred Ngwa; Alfred K Njamnshi

doi:10.1093/braincomms/fcab170

Garcinia kola improves cognitive and motor function of a rat model of acute radiation syndrome in the elevated plus maze

Brain Commun. 2021 Jul 28;3(3):fcab170. doi: 10.1093/braincomms/fcab170. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Nene Ahidjo^{1

2

3}, Leonard Ngarka^{1

3

4}, Paul F Seke Etet^{3

5

6}, Wepnyu Y Njamnshi^{1

2

3}, Leonard N Nfor^{1

3

4}, Michel K Mengnjo^{1

3

4}, Jonas G Basseguin Atchou^{1

3

7}, Edmond N Mouofo¹, Godwin Y Tatah^{1

3

8}, Faustin Dong A Zok⁹, Bonaventure T Ngadjui¹⁰, Wilfred Ngwa¹¹, Alfred K Njamnshi^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Neuroscience Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, The University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
² Brain Research Africa Initiative (BRAIN), Geneva, Switzerland.
³ Brain Research Africa Initiative (BRAIN), Yaoundé, Cameroon.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Yaoundé Central Hospital, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
⁵ Center for Sustainable Health and Development, Garoua, Cameroon.
⁶ Department of Physiological Sciences and Biochemistry, University of Ngaoundéré, Garoua, Cameroon.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry, Yaoundé Military Hospital, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
⁸ Department of Neurology, CH Saint-Nazaire, Saint-Nazaire, France.
⁹ Radiotherapy Unit, Yaoundé General Hospital, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
¹⁰ Department of Pharmacology and Traditional Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, The University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
¹¹ Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Abstract

We reported recently that the elevated plus maze is a good tool for evaluating cognitive and motor functional changes in gamma-irradiated rats as a model for new drug evaluation and monitoring. The capacity of Garcinia kola to mitigate radiation-induced brain injury is currently unknown. We therefore assessed the effects of the neuroprotective medicinal plant Garcinia kola, on the cognitive and motor changes in this murine model of acute radiation syndrome. Wistar rats exposed once to an ionizing dose of Tc99m-generated Gamma radiation were treated with an ethyl acetate fraction of methanolic extract of Garcinia kola seeds (content of 100 mg/kg of extract) for 9 weeks. Cognitive and motor function indicators were assessed in the elevated plus maze in these animals and compared with irradiated control groups (vitamin C- and vehicle-treated groups) and the non-irradiated control rats. The irradiated control group displayed cachexia, shaggy and dirty fur, porphyrin deposits around eyes, decreased exploratory activity, reduced social interactions and a loss of thigmotaxis revealed by a marked decrease in rearing episodes and stretch attend posture episodes close to the walls of elevated plus maze closed arm, an increased central platform time, and decreases in open arm time and entries. This group further displayed a decrease in head dips and grooming episodes. Treatment with Garcinia kola, and in a lesser extent vitamin C, significantly prevented the body weight loss (P < 0.001) and mitigated the development of elevated plus maze signs of cognitive and motor affections observed in the irradiated control group (P < 0.05). Altogether, our data suggest for the first time that Garcinia kola seeds have protective properties against the development of cognitive and motor decline in the acute radiation syndrome-like context. Future studies are warranted to characterize the molecular mechanisms and neuronal networks of this action.

Keywords: Gamma radiation; Garcinia kola; acute radiation syndrome; anxiety-depression; motor and cognitive impairment.