Sains Malaysiana 52(8)(2023): 2297-2308

http://doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2023-5208-10

The Effects of Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench Seed on High Fat Diet Induced Metabolic and Cognitive Impairments in C57BL/6J Mice

(Kesan Biji Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench pada Kemerosotan Metabolik dan Kognitif Terinduksi Diet Tinggi Lemak dalam Tikus C57BL/6J)

PAWEENA WONGWITWICHOT¹, SUPATTRA PROM-IN², JASADEE KAEWSRICHAN¹, NUNTIKA WANGPRADIT³, CHUA KIEN HUI⁴, MOHAMAD FAIRUZ YAHAYA⁵, AZIZAH UGUSMAN⁴ & JAYA KUMAR⁴

¹Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Drug Delivery System Excellence Center, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Prince of Songkla University, Hat-Yai, Songkhla 90110, Thailand

²Department of Thai Traditional Medicine, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, Thaksin University, 93210, Thailand

³International College of Dentistry and Biomass and Oil Palm Center of Excellence, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80160, Thailand

⁴Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

⁵Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Received: 14 February 2023/Accepted: 26 July 2023

Abstract

Okra is known for its neuroprotective and antioxidant properties. We aimed to investigate the potential effects of okra seed powder in alleviating high far diet (HFD) induced cognitive deficit and hypercholesterolemia.  We randomly allocated thirty-six C57BL/6J male mice into: (i) control, mice fed with a normal fat level diet; (ii) HFD, mice fed with HFD; (iii) HFD-OS1; (iv) HFD-OS2; (v) HFD-OS3, mice fed with HFD and okra seed powder (200, 400, or 800 mg/kg/day, respectively); (vi) HFD-SIM, mice fed with HFD and simvastatin (20 mg/kg/day). After 10 weeks of treatment period, the mice were tested with an episodic-like memory test (EMT) and Morris water maze (MWM). We found significantly higher total and LDL cholesterol levels in mice fed with HFD. Compared to the HFD group, the control group performed better in the EMT test, and also learned and retrieved spatial reference memory better in the MWM test.  The okra seed powder significantly improved spatial learning in four days of acquisition trials and the highest dose of okra profoundly improved spatial reference memory retention during the probe trial. Contrary to the MWM results, the okra-treated animals did not perform significantly better than the HFD-treated animals in EMT. At present, we recommend future studies testing the potential neuroprotective or cognitive enhancing effects of okra to assess different cognitive domains using various disease models to have a better understanding on the potential neuroprotective properties of okra.

Keywords: Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench (okra); cognitive impairment; high-fat diet

Abstrak

Okra terkenal dengan kesan antioksidan dan neuropelindungnya. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menilai sama ada serbuk biji bendi mampu mengurangkan kerosakan kognitif dan hiperkolesterolemia akibat HFD. Kami secara rawak membahagikan tiga puluh enam mencit jantan C57BL/6J kepada: (i) kawalan, mencit yang diberi makan dengan diet yang mengandungi tahap lemak normal; (ii) HFD, mencit diberi makan dengan HFD; (iii) HFD-SIM, mencit diberi makan dengan HFD dan diberikan simvastatin (20 mg/kg/hari); (iv) HFD-OS1; (v) HFD-OS2; (vi) HFD-OS3, mencit yang diberi HFD dan serbuk biji bendi (masing-masing 200, 400, atau 800 mg/kg/hari). Setelah 10 minggu rawatan, mencit telah didedahkan kepada ujian ingatan seperti episodik (EMT) dan Morris Water Maze (MWM). Mencit yang diberi makan dengan HFD mencatatkan jumlah dan tahap kolesterol LDL yang jauh lebih tinggi. Untuk EMT, haiwan kawalan berprestasi lebih baik daripada kumpulan HFD. Dalam ujian MWM, haiwan kawalan belajar dan mendapatkan semula ingatan rujukan reruang dengan lebih ketara berbanding kumpulan HFD. Serbuk biji bendi tidak menghasilkan sebarang kesan ketara dalam EMT, walau bagaimanapun, pembelajaran reruang bertambah baik dengan ketara dalam empat hari percubaan pemerolehan dan dos tertinggi bendi meningkatkan pengekalan memori rujukan reruang dengan ketara semasa Probe Trial. Walaupun dengan ketara meningkatkan pembelajaran reruang dan pengekalan ingatan dalam MWM, tiada haiwan yang dirawat okra menunjukkan prestasi yang lebih baik daripada kumpulan HFD dalam EMT. Oleh itu, kami mengesyorkan kajian masa depan yang berkaitan dengan okra untuk menguji komponen kognitif yang berbeza untuk mempunyai pemahaman yang jelas tentang kesan neuropelindung okra.

Kata kunci: Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench (okra); diet tinggi lemak; kemerosotan kognitif

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*Corresponding author; email: jayakumar@ukm.edu.my