RESUMO
This study aimed to determine the effects of tropical fruit juice mixture (pomegranate, white guava, and Roselle) on biochemical, behavioral, and histopathological changes of ß-amyloid- (Aß-) induced rats. Formulation 8 (F8) of tropical fruit juice mixture was chosen for this present study due to its high phenolic content and antioxidant capacity. Forty Wistar male rats were divided into five groups: dPBS (sham-operated control), dAß (Aß control), JPBS (F8 and PBS), JAß (F8 and Aß), and IBFAß (ibuprofen and Aß). F8 (5 ml/kg BW), and ibuprofen (10 ml/kg BW) was given orally daily for four weeks before the intracerebroventricular infusion of Aß for two weeks. Histological analysis and neuronal count of hippocampus tissue in the Cornu Ammonis (CA1) region showed that supplementation with F8 was able to prevent Aß-induced tissue damage and neuronal shrinkage. However, no significant difference in locomotor activity and novel object recognition (NOR) percentage was detected among different groups at day 7 and day 14 following Aß infusion. Only effect of time differences (main effect of day) was observed at day 7 as compared to day 14, where reduction in locomotor activity and NOR percentage was observed in all groups, with F (1, 7) = 6.940, p < 0.05 and F (1, 7) = 7.152, p < 0.05, respectively. Besides, the MDA level of the JAß group was significantly lower (p < 0.01) than that of the dPBS group. However, no significant changes in SOD activity were detected among different groups. Significant reduction in plasma CRH level (p < 0.05) and iNOS expression (p < 0.01) in the brain was detected in the JAß group as compared to the dAß group. Hence, our current findings suggest that the tropical fruit juice mixture (F8) has the potential to protect the rats from Aß-induced neurotoxicity in brain hippocampus tissue possibly via its antioxidant properties and the suppression of iNOS expression and CRH production.
