EVALUATION OF MEMORY ENHANCING ACTIVITY OF CARALLUMA FIMBRIATA EXTRACTS

Caralluma fimbriata (Asclepiadaceae) grows wild all over India and is a traditional food plant. It is well known as a famine food, appetite suppressant and thirst quencher. The current investigation was designed to evaluate memory enhancing activity of aqueous and ethanol extracts of Caralluma fimbriata by using Cookʾpole climbing apparatus and estimation of acetyl cholinesterase inhibitory activity. Scopolamine butyl bromide (1mg/kg bw, i.p) were administrated to animals thirty minutes before foot shock to produce amnesia. Animals were trained to leap on the pole to avoid electrical shock. They received 200 and 400 mg/kg dose of aqueous and ethanol extracts of Caralluma fimbriata orally one hour before the induction of foot shock daily. Acetyl cholinesterase activity was appraised by supplying an acetyl thiocholine as substrate which cause to release thiocholine as consequence of cleaving by acetyl cholinesterase. Thiocholine reduced Ellman reagent to thionitrobenzoic acid as yellow product which could absorb light at 412 nm. The groups treated with aqueous and ethanol extracts of Caralluma fimbriata were exhibited to enhance memory by restored mean percentage of conditional avoidance response towards normal. Acetyl cholinesterase inhibitory activities of extracts of Caralluma fimbriata were found to have the supportive memory enhancing activity by magnifying the cognitive function.