NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF ROSUVASTATIN ON CA1 & CA3 REGIONS OF HIPPOCAMPUS IN HIGH FAT DIET AND STRESS INDUCED RATS

Back ground: prolonged stress and diet rich in cholesterol is known to cause memory impairment and cause disruption of neuronal net work in hippocampus. In the present study, we evaluated the neuroprotective effect of rosuvastatin HMG CoA reductase inhibitor on stress induced and high fat diet fed rats given in combination. Materials & methods: Fourty eight adult male wistar rats were randomly assigned into eight groups. (N = 6) control group received normal diet (chow diet), second group received only high fat diet(HFD), third group received only stress(STS), fourth group high fat diet and stress (HFD+STS), fifth group control + rosuvastatin 10mg/body wt, sixth group control + rosuvastatin 20mg/body.wt, seventh group received high fat diet+stress and treated with rosuvastatin10mg/body.wt (HFD+STS+ROS 10mg),eighth group was treated with rosuvastatin 20mg/body.wt (HFD+STS+ROS 20mg). Spatial memory was assessed by morris water maze. Rats were sacrificed at 96th day; brains were removed and processed for histological studies using cresyl violet staining. Neuronal population of CA1 & CA3 region was quantified. Results: A significant increase in the neuronal population in the subregions of hippocampus (CA1:31± 1.75, (p < 0.05) CA3: 22 ± 2.12, (p < 0.01) and significant improvement of spatial memory, latency to enter the target quadrant LT: (p < 0.05) 6.25 ± 0.71sec), time spent in target quadrant TST: (p < 0.01, 14.3 ± 1.62 sec) was seen in rats treated with rosuvastatin 20mg/kg.body.wt(HFD+STS+ROS 20mg) compared to high fat diet and stress (HFD+STS): (CA1: 28 ± 1.33, :18 ± 1.47) & LT: 7.67 ± 0.77 sec, TST: 10 ± 1.37 sec. The rats treated with 10mg/kg.body.wt (CA1:29 ± 0.33, CA3:20 ± 0.44). did not show any significance compared to HFD+STS group. Conclusion: The results clearly demonstrate that rosuvastatin 20mg/kg.body.wt was able to prevent hippocampal neuronal loss in CA1 and CA3 regions and also enhanced learning and memory abilities. These findings support the view that rosuvastatin have neuroprotective action.