AMELIORATIVE EFFECT OF CURCUMIN PRETREATMENT AGAINST MORPHINE-INDUCED INHIBITORY MEMORY IMPAIRMENT

Background and Aim : Curcumin, member of the ginger family and a natural phytochemical derived from the rhizome of Curcuma longa, exhibits a wide range of biological actions, including anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, and antioxidant activities. Curcumin is widely used in South-east Asia, India and China in food preparation. Accumulating evidence suggests the improving effect of curcumin on cognitive processes, such as learning and memory. In addition, huge bodies of evidence show the impairing effect of morphine on learning and memory, both in human and animal models. Considering the above, there is a hypothesis that curcumin pre-treatment may ameliorate cognitive impairment induced by morphine. The present study has been designed to investigate the effect of curcumin pre-treatment on morphine-induced cognitive impairment in rats. Methods : Male Wistar rats (180-200 g) were assigned in four groups (8 rats in each group): Control; Curcumin; Morphine and Curcumin + Morphine. Animals were pre-treated with oral curcumin (10 mg/kg/35 days). Post-training morphine injection (7.5 mg/kg/ip) was made one day after the curcumin pre-treatment. Step-through test was used to assess inhibitory avoidance memory. In addition, locomotor activity of animals was assed using open field test. One-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey tests were used for statistical analyses. Results : Sub-chronic curcumin pre-treatment improved inhibitory learning and memory in rats with impaired memory induced by the administration of morphine (p<0.01). In addition, curcumin pre-treatment had no effect on locomotor activity of animals in open field test (P> 0.05).Conclusion : Taken together, our findings indicate that curcumin ameliorates morphine-induced inhibitory memory impairment. More studies are to do for the possible mechanisms involved.

کلیدواژه ها:

Curcuma: inhibitory avoidance memory ، Morphine.