Neuropharmacological Effects of Umbelliferone in Traumatic Brain Injury Mouse Model

Abstract

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) accounts to be a major concern of mortality worldwide. Patients tend to face various cognitive, emotional and behavioral deficits. These after effects can be long lasting and prove to be devastating for the patient as well his loved ones. Till date, there are very limited therapeutic options available for treatment of traumatic brain injury. Umbelliferone, a coumarin from the Umbelliferae family has been reported to exhibited neuroprotective effects. The neuroprotective effects of Umbelliferone (5mg/kg and 30mg/kg) on an induced mouse model of TBI were evaluated in this study. A mouse model was developed where a weight of 100g was dropped from a height of 4cm three times on an exposed skull. The sensory and motor deficits were evaluated by Neurological severity score (NSS). Behavioral testing analyzed the behaviors. Fear conditioning and fear context assessed the fear learning and memory. Novel object test assesses the recognition memory. Anxiety was analyzed by the light and dark test and elevated plus maze test. The exploratory behaviour was determined by the open field test. Memory and learning were assessed by Morris water maze test. Elevated maze test and light dark test showed mild decrease in anxiety in Umbelliferone treated (5mg/kg and 30mg/kg) groups. Neurological severity scores showed considerable improvement in the Umbelliferone treated groups TBI+Umbelliferone(5mg/kg). Although no significant difference was observed in majority of the other behavioural tests, a trend was witnessed where Umbelliferone treated groups showed improvement. We can conclude that Umbelliferone might have neuroprotective effects on Trauma patients. Further research has to be carried out in order to study the perfect dosage to be administered for promising results