COGNITION ENHANCING ABILITY OF A POPULAR GREEN LEAFY VEGETABLE- CHENOPODIUM ALBUM: IN-VITRO AND IN-VIVO CORROBORATION

Oxidative stress and cholinergic deficit are major culprits of cognitive impairment. Intake of green leafy vegetables – rich in antioxidant phytoconstituents- strongly correlates with memory-preserving capacity. Our earlier work showed that hydromethanol (HM) extract of Chenopodium album (a common leafy vegetable) had strong acetylcholinesterase inhibitory and antioxidant activity in-vitro. The objective of the present study was to isolate the bioactive fraction/constituent from HM extract of C. album and substantiate its memory-enhancing capacity with in-vitro and in-vivo evidence. The HM extract was fractionated by solvent portioning and column chromatography and the antioxidant and acetylcholinesterase inhibition by fractions and sub-fractions thus obtained were assessed by DPPH and Ellman assays, respectively. The fraction F6 showed best potential in-vitro. Subsequently, the anti-amnesic capacity of HM extract and F6 was assessed using a scopolamine-induced memory impairment mouse model. Morris Water Maze test was used to determine memory. Biochemical parameters and histopathological studies of brain were also evaluated to elucidate anti-amnesic mechanism. In-vivo studies confirmed that F6 protected against scopolamine-induced memory impairment and significantly reduced brain AChE activity, oxidative stress and histopathological anomalies. The bioactive fraction (F6) of C. album exhibits marked potential to manage memory disorders via antioxidant and anticholinesterase pathways. This may be attributed to synergistic or additive effect of phenolic compounds present therein. F6 obtained from C. album can be developed as a drug or health supplement to ameliorate suffering due to memory disorders.