Biochanin A Improves Memory Decline and Brain Pathology in Cuprizone-Induced Mouse Model of Multiple Sclerosis

Rahaf Saeed Aldhahri, Badrah Saeed Alghamdi, Noor Ahmed Alzahrani, Khulud Abdullah Bahaidrah, Hadeil Muhanna Alsufiani, Rasha Abdulrashed Mansouri*, Ghulam Md Ashraf*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system characterized by the demyelination of nerves, neural degeneration, and axonal loss. Cognitive impairment, including memory decline, is a significant feature in MS affecting up to 70% of patients. Thereby, it substantially impacts patients’ quality of life. Biochanin A (BCA) is an o-methylated isoflavone with a wide variety of pharmacological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective activities. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the possible protective effects of BCA on memory decline in the cuprizone (CPZ) model of MS. Thirty Swiss albino male mice (SWR/J) were randomly divided into three groups (n = 10): control (normal chow + i.p. 1:9 mixture of DMSO and PBS), CPZ (0.2% w/w of CPZ mixed into chow + i.p. 1:9 mixture of DMSO and PBS), and CPZ + BCA (0.2% w/w of CPZ mixed into chow + i.p. 40 mg/kg of BCA). At the last week of the study (week 5), a series of behavioral tasks were performed. A grip strength test was performed to assess muscle weakness while Y-maze, novel object recognition task (NORT), and novel arm discrimination task (NADT) were performed to assess memory. Additionally, histological examination of the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex (PFC) were conducted. BCA administration caused a significant increase in the grip strength compared with the CPZ group. Additionally, BCA significantly improved the mice’s spatial memory in the Y-maze and recognition memory in the NORT and the NADT compared with the CPZ group. Moreover, BCA mitigated neuronal damage in the PFC and the hippocampus after five weeks of administration. In conclusion, our data demonstrates the possible protective effect of BCA against memory deterioration in mice fed with CPZ for five weeks.

Original languageEnglish
Article number70
JournalBehavioral Sciences
Volume12
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Biochanin A
  • Cognitive impairment
  • Cuprizone
  • Memory decline
  • Multiple sclerosis

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