Improvement in Memory and Brain Long-term Potentiation Deficits Due to Permanent Hypoperfusion/Ischemia by Grape Seed Extract in Rats

  Objective(s): Cerebral hypoperfusion/ischemia (CHI) is a neurological disease where impaired hippocampus electrical activity and cognition caused by a serial pathophysiological events. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of chronic oral administration of grape seed extract (GSE) on passive avoidance memory and long-term potentiation (LTP) after permanent bilateral common carotid arteries occlusion (۲CCAO) in male adult rats.   Materials and Methods: Thirty-two adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into: ۱) Sham+Veh, ۲) Isch+Veh, ۳) Sham+GSE, ۴) Isch+GSE. In order to make ۲CCAO as an animal model of CHI, carotid arteries were ligatured and then cut bilaterally. To evaluation of passive avoidance memory, step-down latency (STL) was measured and LTP was recorded from hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) after high frequency stimulation (HFS) in all rats. Results: We found that memory was significantly impaired in rats after CHI (P<۰.۰۰۱) concomitant with hippocampal LTP inhibition (P<۰.۰۵, P۱ and LTP۴۸ respectively). GSE treatment significantly improved memory impairment and increased hippocampal LTP in rats with ۲CCAO. Conclusion: Our results in present study suggest that GSE exhibits therapeutic potential for short-and long-term memories as well as LTP in DG, which is most likely related at least in part to its antioxidative and free radical scavenging actions.

Keywords:

grape seed extract , Hypoperfusion-Ischemia LTP Memory Rat