Résumé:
Today, medicinal plants are an essential source of new therapeutic molecules that are highly
effective against many neurodegenerative diseases. Alzheimer's is a chronic disease that affects
behaviour and leads to gnostic disorders. In this context, we are interested in the neuroprotective
effect of the pits of the date fruit (phoenix dactylifera L.). The aim of this research is to contribute
to the in vivo evaluation of the anti-Alzheimer's activity of the ethanolic extract of date pits
from the Deglet Nour variety. The experimental protocol is based on a 45-day pretreatment
period consisting of the daily administration by gastric gavage of date kernel extract at 50, 100
and 200mg/kg in the Alz-END50, Alz-END100 and Alz-END200 groups respectively. A
standard group treated with Donepezil at 1mg/kg was chosen as reference, as were the control
(T) and Alzheimer model (ALZ) groups, which received distilled water. This was followed by
induction of Alzheimer's disease by exposure to aluminium chloride (AlCl3) at 100mg/kg orally
combined with a daily intraperitoneal (IP) injection of D-galactose at 120mg/kg for 45 days for
all experimental groups except the control group (T). After 90 days, neurological behavioural
tests were carried out to assess the neuroprotective efficacy of the extract studied (END). A
histological examination was also carried out on the brain using Haematoxylin/Eosin staining.
The results obtained showed a remarkable significant tissue improvement in Alzheimer's mice
treated with ethanolic extract of date pits at 200mg/kg (AlzEND200) compared with
Alzheimer's model mice (Alz-C). Finally, from these results we can conclude that ethanolic
extract of date pits could probably be a new source of bioactive molecules in the neuroprotection
of Alzheimer's disease.
