Hazelnut and neuroprotection: Improved memory and hindered anxiety in response to intra-hippocampal Aβ injection

Abstract

Objectives: Corylus avellana L. (hazelnut) is known to be a delicious and nutritious food. This study was carried out to evaluate the use of hazelnut as a therapy for memory impairment because in Iranian traditional medicine, it is recommended for those suffering from a particular type of dementia, with symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

Methods: In this study, rats were fed with hazelnut kernel [(without skin) 800 mg/kg/day] during 1 week before stereotaxic surgery to 24 hours before behavioral testing (in general, for 16 consecutive days) and the effect of hazelnut eating on memory, anxiety, neuroinflammation and apoptosis was assessed in the amyloid beta-injected rat.

Results: The results of this study showed that feeding with hazelnut improved memory, (which was examined by using Y-maze test and shuttle box apparatus), and reduced anxiety-related behavior, that was evaluated using elevated plus maze. Also, western blotting analysis of cyclooxygenase-2, interleukin-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α, B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X protein, and caspase-3 showed that hazelnut has an ameliorating effect on the neuroinflammation and apoptosis caused by Aβ.

Discussion: These findings suggest that hazelnut, as a dietary supplement, improves healthy aging and could be a beneficial diet for the treatment of AD.

Keywords:

• Hazelnut
• Alzheimer's disease
• Memory
• Anxiety
• Apoptosis
• Neuroinflammation

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the NeuroBiology Research Center and Traditional Medicine and Materia Medica Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences for the laboratory support given to this study. This article is based on part of a PhD thesis of traditional pharmacy (Zahra Bahaeddin, No. 143), School of Traditional Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.