IMR Press / JIN / Volume 19 / Issue 2 / DOI: 10.31083/j.jin.2020.02.32
Open Access Original Research
Melatonin improves memory defects in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis by up-regulating cAMP-response element-binding protein and synapse-associated proteins in the prefrontal cortex
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1 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia
2 Neuroscience Unit, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia
3 Pre-Clinical Research Unit, King Fahad Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia
*Correspondence: Basalghamdi@kau.edu.sa (Badrah Saeed Alghamdi)
J. Integr. Neurosci. 2020, 19(2), 229–237; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.jin.2020.02.32
Submitted: 7 February 2020 | Revised: 20 March 2020 | Accepted: 7 April 2020 | Published: 30 June 2020
Copyright: © 2020 Alghamdi and AboTaleb. Published by IMR press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
Abstract

Multiple sclerosis is a progressive autoimmune disorder of the myelin sheath and is the most common inflammatory disease of young adults. Up to 65% of multiple sclerosis patients have cognitive impairments such as memory loss and difficulty in understanding and maintaining attention and concentration. Many pharmacological interventions have been used to reverse motor impairments in multiple sclerosis patients; however, none of these drugs improve cognitive function. Melatonin can diffuse through the blood-brain barrier and has well-known antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties with almost no side effects; it is, therefore, a promising neuroprotective supplement for many neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ischemic stroke, and fibromyalgia. However, only some researches have assessed the effect of melatonin on cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis. Here, we evaluated the effects of melatonin supplementation on memory defects induced by cuprizone in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. Cuprizone (400 mg/kg) and melatonin (80 mg/kg) were administered to SWR/J mice daily for 5 weeks. Open field, tail-flick, and novel object recognition behavioral tests were performed. Also, expression of cAMP-response element-binding protein, synaptophysin, and postsynaptic density protein 95 were measured in the prefrontal cortex. Melatonin significantly improved the memory defects induced by cuprizone toxicity by up-regulating cAMP-response element-binding protein and by increasing expression of the synapse-associated synaptophysin and postsynaptic density protein 95 genes in the prefrontal cortex. These results indicate that melatonin may provide protective effects against memory impairments associated with multiple sclerosis.

Keywords
Multiple sclerosis
melatonin
cuprizone
Creb
synaptophysin
Psd95
Funding
King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah, SA
Figures
Figure 1.
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