The effect of crocin on hippocampal lipid peroxidation and histopathology following intracerebroventricular injection of colchicine in the rat

Colchicine is a neurotoxin substance. Its intraventricular injection causes oxidative stress, inflammation, destruction of cholinergic and glutaminergic neurons and consequently impairs memory and learning. Crocin is an effective ingredient in saffron that has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential with beneficial effects on memory and learning. This study investigated the effect of crocin on lipid peroxidation and histological changes of the hippocampus following intracerebroventricular injection of colchicine in the rat.

40 male rats were randomly divided into 5 groups as follows: 1-Sham, 2- Sham + crocin at a dose of 50 mg/kg, 3- Colchicine, 4- Colchicine + crocin at a dose of 10 mg/kg, and 5- Colchicine + crocin at a dose of 50 mg/kg. Cognitive disorder was induced by injection of colchicine bilaterally into the brain ventricles through stereotaxic surgery. Crocin was daily administered 2 days before surgery till day 7 after the surgery. In the third week after the surgery, malondialdehyde (MDA) was evaluated in hippocampal homogenate. The number of neurons was also studied by Nissl staining in CA1 and CA3 regions.

The results showed that crocin treatment at a dose of 50 mg/kg significantly reduced MDA. Histopathological assessment did not show significant changes regarding neuronal number.

The findings of this study indicate the dose-dependent effect of crocin in reduction of hippocampal MDA following intracerebroventricular injection of colchicine in the rat. However, it is not effective regarding number of hippocampal pyramidal neurons after colchicine challenge.