Neuropharmacology

Biography

Biography: Ola Ahmed Heikal

Abstract

It is estimated that more than 500000 Tons of rice bran is produced in Egypt every year. Though its nutritional values and potential health benefits, it is used , due to its instability , as animal feed rather high value functional food and/ or high value added nutraceuticals. A number of papers were published showing, the stabilized rice bran extract, potential health benefits in some diseases like Alzheimer’s disease (Hagel et al., 2013 2015 a,b, c).  The product is registered (Oryza), another one under registration at the Egyptian Ministry of Health (Riciplex) . A functional food against Alzheimer is currently developed in Germany, based on the Stabilized Egyptian rice bran supplied (Porridge Plus 6). In the present study the effects of RBE were examined in comparison to a well-known PPARγ agonist pioglitazone. RBE administration significantly improved the spatial working and reference memory in addition to non-spatial recognition memory in the LPS mouse model as shown by object recognition test, y-maze and water maze test. Pioglitazone improved memory, in the Y-maze and object recognition test with no effect in the water maze test. Interestingly, the effect of RBE on memory was abolished in the group injected with PPARγ-antagonist before RBE treatment, indicating the important role of PPARγ in the mechanism of action of RBE. Furthermore, the RBE -PPARγ DNA binding activity was measured in the brain extract samples of the mouse treated groups using transcription factor assay kit. Results showed a significant increase in PPARγ binding to PPRE with RBE treatment and this effect was reversed upon PPARγ antagonist injection before RBE treatment. These findings demonstrate that the involvement of RBE in the beneficial effects on cognitive performance is correlated with its action on PPARγ modulation, providing novel insight into its neuroprotective role in AD.