Rosmarinus officinallis improves learning and memory of mouse model of Morris water maze

Abstract

Rosmarinus officinalis known as rosemary oil is used in herbal medicine, recent studies have found that some alkaloids act as antidepressants and anti-inflammatories because of their inhibitory activity on acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase, so that rosemary could be a complementary treatment for the disease. Alzheimer's disease, because this disease is linked to an acetylcholine deficiency. Objective: to evaluate the effect of rosemary oil on learning through the Morris water maze. Material: twenty-four male CD1 mice weighing 20-30g were divided into four groups: 1. saline solution intraperitoneally 2. memantine (10μg/kg) intraperitoneally, 3. rosemary oil (20μg/kg) inhalation and 4.rosemary oil (120μg/Kg) oral administration. The time that remained in each quadrant was measured as a way of evaluating learning, through the recognition of the area. Results: It was found that the group treated with oral rosemary oil had a learning similar to that of memantine, a drug used to treat Alzheimer's, in which the group treated by inhalation was not significant. Conclusions: The present study showed that mice treated with oral rosemary oil did exhibit a tendency to improve performance in the Morris water maze compared to mice treated by inhalation, indicating that improved learning and memory capacity, is the beginning for complementary treatments in Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia using rosemary oil.