Ellagic Acid Administration Reverses Colchicine- Induced Dementia in Rats

The late-onset sporadic type of Alzheimer’s disease is characterised by chronic oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and cognitive dysfunction. Ellagic acid is a naturally occurring polyphenol known to possess robust antioxidant property. In the present study, memory enhancing potential of ellagic acid has been explored against ICV colchicine induced dementia in rats. Colchicine (15μg/rat) was administered to Wistar rats (200g) through intracerebroventricular (ICV) route by using stereotaxic apparatus. ICV colchicine induces Alzheimer’s disease like changes in the brain such as rampant free radical production, neuroinflammation and selective neurodegeneration in hippocampus and cortex by acting as an antitubulin agent (mitotic poison). Ellagic acid (17.5 and 35 mg/kg, p.o.) was administered to rats for 25 successive days. Morris water maze and elevated plus maze paradigms were utilized to assess the spatial memory of rats. Oxidative stress biomarkers along with TNF-α were also measured in brain of rats. Ellagic acid prevented the ICV colchicine triggered cognitive deficits as evident by a significant (p<0.05) reduction in mean escape latency during acquisition trial and increased (p<0.05) time spent in target quadrant during probe trial in Morris water maze test, and reduction (p<0.05) in transfer latency in elevated plus maze test. Furthermore, both the doses of ellagic acid attenuated ICV colchicine induced rise in brain TBARS as well as TNF-α and simultaneously enhanced the GSH content.Ellagic acid prevented the brain of rodents from dementing effects of colchicine by attenuating the oxidative damage.