1Department of Pharmacology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India.
2Department of Pharmacology, The Oxford Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre, Bengaluru, India.
3Department of Biochemistry, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India.
4Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India.
*Corresponding Author E-mail: meena.kumari@manipal.edu
Sleep is crucial for various functions linked to learning and memory. Literature reports that sleep insufficiency affects around 18% of adults globally. Recent research emphasizes the use of natural components over synthetic compounds. No studies have explored to study the effect of natural components like vitamin D and ipriflavone on sleep deprivation-induced cognitive impairment. Our study aims to observe their impact on REM sleep- deprived rats administered with scopolamine. Forty-two albino rats were categorized into seven groups (n=6). Group 1 was REM control (without-SD) and group 2 include REM sleep deprived rats. Group 3 was REM sleep- deprived rats treated with scopolamine and group 4-7 consisting of REM sleep-deprived along with scopolamine was administered vitamin D, ipriflavone, donepezil, and (vitamin D + ipriflavone) combination respectively. By using modified multiple-platform, REM sleep was induced in rats and morris water maze was used to assess spatial learning and memory . Rat hippocampal tissue was subjected to biochemical and histopathological examination to assess anti-amnesic action of the drugs. The result showed groups treated with vitamin D, and ipriflavone combination showed better antioxidant properties as evidenced by reduced glutathione, and decreased prooxidant level, specifically malondialdehyde and nitric oxide, compared to donepezil group. Similarly, there was a significant increase in Brain-Derived-Neurotropic-Factor level and decreased cholesterol level in the treated group. Furthermore, acetylcholinesterase activity in the treated group was comparable to that of the standard donepezil group, in contrast to the sleep-deprived and sleep-deprived + scopolamine groups. Behavioural analysis showed better performance in the treated group which is similar to standard donepezil group. Histopathological analysis showed increased healthy neurons in the treated group compared to that of sleep-deprived and sleep-deprived+ scopolamine. This study indicated that ipriflavone, vitamin D and their combination could enhance cognition, and their effect may be comparable to the standard drug donepezil.
Acquisition trial, BDNF, Morris water maze, Probe trial, Sleep deprivation
