The Effect of Chronic Administration of Aegle Marmelos Seed Extract on Learning and Memory in Diabetic Rats

Objective(s) Diabetes mellitus is associated with disturbances of learning and memory and cognitive functioning. Aegle marmelos Corr. from Rutaceae family is widely used in Iranian folk medicine for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Considering the beneficial antidiabetic and antioxidant potential of A. marmelos, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of oral administration of A. marmelos on learning and spatial memory in diabetic rats using Morris water maze test. Materials and Methods Considering the beneficial antidiabetic potential of A. marmelos, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of chronic oral administration of A. marmelos as cognitive enhancer, on learning and spatial memory in diabetic rats using Morris water maze test. Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal-control, diabetic-control, and A. marmelos-treated diabetic groups (100, 250 and 500 mg/kg, p.o.). Animals were treated for 4 weeks by A. marmelos or normal saline. Diabetes was induced by a single dose i.p. injection of streptozotocin (45 mg/kg). In each group of animals, spatial learning and memory parameters were analyzed. Results Clear impairment of spatial learning and memory was observed in diabetic group versus normal-control group. A. marmelos showed dose dependent improvement in spatial learning and memory parameters that swimming time (Escape Latency) in normal-control and A. marmelos-treated diabetic animals rats was  significantly (P< 0.01) lower than diabetic-control, while swimming speed was significantly (P< 0.05) higher. Conclusion The study demonstrated that A. marmelos has significant protective affect against diabetes-induced spatial learning and memory deficits. This effect could be attributed to hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic and antioxidant activity of A. marmelos.