PHARMACOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF ANETHUM GRAVEOLENS (DILL) FRUIT EXTRACTS IN ANIMAL MODEL OF MEMORY ENHANCEMENT

Abstract

Phytochemical investigations of plant develop a valuable phenomenon for scientists for new innovations and sophisticated
drug discoveries. These chemical materials produced related to plants having medicinal values and that shows various
biological properties. The examples are glycosides, alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids and phenolic compounds. The
investigation of chemical constituents is useful for the discovery of therapeutic agents, but also for disclosing new
resources of such chemicals. The proposed work was done on the chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol extract of
Anethum graveolens. The memory-enhancing effects were evaluated by studies i.e. anti-inflammatory activity, antioxidant
activity (Elevated plus Maze Model), acetylcholine Esterase inhibitory activity (Elevated plus Maze Model), open-field
test, morris water maze test and step-down test on normal and aged mice. The tests showed the impaired spatial memory
of the aged mice was partly reversed by ethyl acetate extract (100 mg/kg; P less than 0.05) as compared with the aged control
mice. In step-down tests, the nonspatial memory of the aged mice was improved by ethyl acetate extract (100 mg/kg; P
less than 0.05). Additionally, ethyl acetate extract of plant could inhibit acetyl cholinesterase (AChE), and also showed antiinflammatory and anti-oxidant activity in the brain tissue of the aged mice. The results showed that ethyl acetate extract
(100 mg/kg; P less than 0.05) improved memory functions of the aged mice probably via its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
properties. Thus the treatment on animals with ethyl acetate extract did not cause significant change in the cortex of
brain and have no side effect. Thus the proposed work is showed that plant extract could be used to treat cognitive
dysfunction and further could be used for memory enhancement.