The Effect of Nerol on Behavioral, Biochemical and Histological Parameters in Male Wistar Alzheimer's Rats

One of the most important reasons for dementia is Alzheimer's disease (AD) characterized by amyloid plaques and neuronal death. Using natural therapies has always been a great concern for AD. Herein, nerol, as a natural monoterpene, was applied to examine its protective and therapeutic effects on a rat model of AD. Fifty six Wistar, male rats were randomly assigned to 7 groups (n = 8 rats/group), including control group with no Aβ42 injections, group 2 with Aβ42 injection into rats’ hippocampus, group 3 with injection of phosphate buffer saline, as Aβ buffer, into rats’ hippocampus, group 4, 5 and 6 that received nerol at 30, 60 and 90 mg kg-1, respectively, after being injected with Aβ42, and group 7 that received nerol (60 mg kg-1) in a protective mode before Aβ injection. Behavioral, biochemical and histological parameters were evaluated in all groups. Alzheimer’s-induced group showed impairment in lipid profile, antioxidant enzyme level, long-term memory, enzymes activity along with loss of neuronal cells. Treatment with nerol improved the lipid profile, antioxidant enzyme level, number of amyloid plaques, and memory function. Protection with nerol (60 mg kg-1) also demonstrated similar improvements against AD. Hence, nerol has shown capability of improving the deficiency of neuronal cells, memory as well as antioxidant enzyme level associated with AD.