Volume 18, Issue 42, July - December, 2024

Alcohol-induced neurotoxicity and mitigating effect of Trichocereus macrogonus stem-sap on the amygdala of Wistar rats

Ini-Obong G Essien^1♦, Christopher C Mbadugha², Aquaisua N Aquaisua²

¹Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Science, University of Uyo, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria
²Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Science, University of Uyo, Main Campus, 520003 Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Science, University of Uyo, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Alcohol is known to have neurotoxic effects on the brain, particularly on the amygdala, a pertinent brain structure for emotional processing, learning, memory, and social behavior. This study was to assess the mitigating effects of T. macrogonus (TM) stem-sap on the amygdala of alcohol-induced neurotoxicity in Wistar rats. Twenty-five adult male Wistar rats (190-240 g) were grouped into five groups of five rats each; Group A served as the control and was administered with 10 mL/kg body weight (b.w.) of distilled water; Groups B-E received 88 mg/kg of TM stem-sap, 1.34 mL/kg of alcohol, 0.13 mL/kg of alcohol + 88 mg/kg of TM stem-sap, and 1.34 mL/kg of alcohol + 264 mg/kg TM stem-sap, respectively. The administrations were oral and lasted for 21 days. A day later, the animals were sacrificed immediately after ketamine hydrochloride intraperitoneal anesthesia. Animals were perfusion-fixed with phosphate-buffered saline, the brains excised, fixed in 10% buffered formalin, processed, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H & E) and Cresyl fast violet (CFV). The result showed there was no significant difference in body weight in all groups. Histologically, mild and moderate histomorphological alterations of the amygdala in groups D and E compared to A and C groups, respectively. CFV stain showed highly and moderately stained Nissl bodies in groups D and E, respectively. In conclusion, T. macrogonus step-sap as a neuroprotective agent was able to mitigate the damaging effect of alcohol-induced neurotoxicity but was dosage-dependent.

Keywords: Trichocereus macrogonus, alcohol, Nissl substance, amygdala

Drug Discovery, 2024, 18(42), e15dd1989

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi.v18i42.e15dd1989

Published: 06 July 2024