| Abstract No.: | C-G3202 |
| Country: | Nigeria |
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| Title: | COMPARATIVE EFFECTS OF RAUWOLFIA VOMITORIA, CHLORPROMAZINE AND RESERPINE ON LEARNING AND MEMORY IN THE MORIS WATER MAZE TASK. |
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| Authors/Affiliations: | 2 Sunday Bisong*; 2 Eme Osim; 1 Richard Brown;
1 Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada; 2 University of Calabar, Nigeria
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| Content: | Objectives: Despite the advances in orthodox medicine, most Nigerians still resort to traditional medicine for treatment. This gave rise to the study of the comparative effects of the root bark extract of Rauwolfia vomitoria (RV) used by traditional healers for some forms of mental illness with the orthodox drug chlorpromazine (CPZ).
Materials and methods: We compared the effects of RV (0.0, 0.25, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 mg/kg) CPZ (0.0, 0.25, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 mg/kg) and Reserpine (RES), one of the main alkaloids of RV) (0.0, 0.1, 0.4, 0.8, 1.6 mg/kg), on learning and memory, using the Moris water maze. Mice were trained to use extra-maze visual cues to locate an escape platform hidden just below the surface of the 100cm-diameter opaque water pool of water within 60 seconds (Morris, 1984). The test consisted of 3 days of acquisition, 3 days of reversal training (4 trials each day) and one probe trial without the platform on the 7th day. RV and RES were administered intraperitoneally 24 hours (and CPZ, 30 minutes) before testing for 6 days.
Results: The latency to find the hidden platform did not differ significantly both for acquisition and reversal training in mice administered RV and CPZ compared to controls. The latency to the hidden platform during acquisition training for the different doses of RES did not also differ. However, during the reversal training, higher doses of RES caused increased platform latency, with a more significant effect on reversal day 3 (F4/20 = 7.10; p< 0.01). The latency to the visible platform was significantly lower for the RV mice compared to control (p< 0.05). Mice in the 0.25 mg/kg CPZ group, however, showed longer latencies to the visible platform compared to control. RES (1.6 mg/kg) also showed longer visible platform latencies compared to control (F4/20 = 5.01; p< 0.01). The North-East quadrant duration was only significantly lower in the RES 0.8 and 1.6 mg/kg groups compared to control during the probe trial.
Conclusion: Both RV and CPZ did not affect learning and memory in mice when compared to control. However, RES reduced learning and memory. Therefore, the effect of RV on the nervous system may not be due to reserpine alone. |
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