Vesela A. Borisova‡, Miroslav Tz. Eftimov‡, Stefka V. Valcheva-Kuzmanova‡Corresponding author: Stefka V. Valcheva-Kuzmanova ( stefkavk@yahoo.com ) © Vesela A. Borisova, Miroslav Tz. Eftimov, Stefka V. Valcheva-Kuzmanova. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Borisova VA, Eftimov MT, Valcheva-Kuzmanova SV (2019) Effects of Chaenomeles maulei Fruit Juice on Reserpine-induced Behavioral Changes in Rats. Folia Medica 61(4): 579-583. https://doi.org/10.3897/folmed.61.e47810 |  |
Background: The fruit juice from Chaenomeles japonica var. maulei (Mast.) Lavall,e is very rich in polyphenolic compounds.
Aim: The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of Chaenomeles maulei fruit juice (CMFJ) on reserpine-induced beha-vioral changes in rats.
Materials and methods: The experimental design included a total of 50 animals, divided in the following groups: control, R, R+CMFJ2.5, R+CMFJ5, and R+CMFJ10. All groups except the control received a single intraperitoneal injection of reserpine while the Control group was injected with the vehicle. CMFJ was applied through an orogastric cannula at 0, 19, and 23 hours after reserpine injection at doses of 2.5 ml/kg, 5 ml/kg, and 10 ml/kg to groups R+CMFJ2.5, R+CMFJ5, and R+CMFJ10, respectively. The groups control and R received distilled water (10 ml/kg) at the same time points. The open field test (OFT) and the forced swim test (FST) were carried out. In the OFT, crossings and rearings were recorded as a measure of locomotor activity. In the FST, the immobility time served as a measure of depressive-like behavior.
Results: In the OFT, the number of crossings of rats were significantly reduced (p<0.05) by reserpine. CMFJ antagonized the effects of reserpine on rat locomotor activity. In the FST, reserpine caused an insignificant reduction of the immobility time while CMFJ reversed this effect probably by increasing the locomotor activity.
Conclusion: CMFJ reversed reserpine-induced hypokinesia in rats. This effect of CMFJ might be attributed to the polyphenols found in very high concentrations in the juice.