Evaluation de l’effet neuroprotecteur du Juniperus phoeniciea L. chez un model Alzheimer induit par l’Aluminium.

Abstract

Medicinal plants are a valuable source of bioactives compounds effective against the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. The present study investigated the neuroprotective effect of Juniperus phoenicea L. collected from Bordj Bou Arreridj Province, Algeria. The objective of this study was to evaluate the anti-Alzheimer's activity of the leaf extract and fruit essential oil of J. phoenicea in female Wistar rats. The experimental protocol consisted of inducing Alzheimer's disease simultaneously with a 35-day therapeutic intervention. Neurodegeneration was induced by oral administration of aluminum chloride (AlCl₃) at a dose of 100 mg/kg, combined with an intraperitoneal (IP) injection of D-galactose at 120 mg/kg in all experimental groups except the control group (T). Pretreatment involved the daily oral administration of the hydroethanolic leaf extract of J. phoenicea at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg (ALZ-FD1 and ALZ-FD2, respectively), and the essential oil at doses of 75 and 150 mg/kg (ALZ-HED1 and ALZ-HED2, respectively). A standard group received rivastigmine at 1.5 mg/kg (ALZ-STD), while the control group (T) and the Alzheimer's disease model group (ALZ) received distilled water. Neurological, behavioral, and memory assessments, along with histological examination of the brain tissue, were conducted to evaluate the neurotherapeutic efficacy of the tested extracts. The results of the behavioral and cognitive evaluations revealed restoration of locomotor activity, reduction of anxiety, and improvement in spatial memory (both working and reference memory) in the Morris water maze test in the ALZ-FD2 and ALZ-HED2 treated groups. Furthermore, histological examination of the brain tissue confirmed remarkable cellular preservation, with only very mild alterations observed in these treated groups compared with the pathological control group (ALZ). In conclusion, Juniperus phoenicea L. may represent a promising source of bioactive compounds for the development of novel neuroprotective therapeutic strategies.