Kochia scoparia seed infusion ameliorates behavioral impairment in rats subjected to calorie-dense diet
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.2478/AMB-2025-0075Keywords:
Kochia scoparia, cognitive impairment, anxiety, depression, calorie-dense diet, ratsAbstract
Aim: The current study aimed to assess the effects of aqueous Kochia scoparia seeds infusions (KSSIs) on the behavioral indices of anxiety, depression, and spatial memory impairment in rats receiving a calorie-dense diet (CDD). Materials and Methods: Five groups (n = 10 each) of male Wistar rats were used. For ten weeks, the control group received a standard laboratory diet, and the other groups – CDD. KSSIs were prepared at increasing strengths by soaking 1.5, 3.0 and 6.0 g Kochia scoparia seeds in 100 ml of boiling water and were given orally ad libitum to groups named CDD+1.5KSSI, CDD+3KSSI and CDD+6KSSI, respectively. The anxiety-like behavior was assessed by the open field test (OFT) and the social interaction test (SIT), the depression-like state – by the forced swim test (FST), and the spatial memory – by the object location test (OLT). Results: KSSI-treated animals spent more time in the central zone in the OFT and demonstrated lower immobility time in the FST compared to the CDD group. As revealed by the OLT, CDD induced the impairment of the spatial memory of the rats and the highest strength of KSSI prevented the changes. Conclusion: Our results suggest that KSSI might exert anxiolytic-like, antidepressant-like and memory-enhancing effects in rats receiving a calorie-dense diet.
References
G Rajek M, Krupa-Kotara K, Białek-Dratwa A, et al. Nutrition and mental health: A review of current knowledge about the impact of diet on mental health. Front Nutr, 2022, 9: 943998.
World Health Organization. WHO Facts Sheets. [Internet]. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets (Accessed: 30 January 2025).
Rajan TM, Menon V. Psychiatric disorders and obesity: A review of association studies. J Postgrad Med, 2017, 63(3): 182–190.
Adan RAH, van der Beek EM, Buitelaar JK, et al. Nutritional psychiatry: towards improving mental health by what you eat. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol, 2019, 29(12): 1321–1332.
Al-Snafi AE. A review on pharmacological activities of Kochia scoparia – a review. Indo Am J P Sci, 2018, 05(04): 2213–2221.
Fulton S, Décarie-Spain L, Fioramonti X, et al. The menace of obesity to depression and anxiety prevalence. Trends Endocrinol Metab, 2022, 33(1): 18–35.
Więckowska-Gacek A, Mietelska-Porowska A, Wydrych M, et al. Western diet as a trigger of Alzheimer’s disease: From metabolic syndrome and systemic inflammation to neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Ageing Res Rev, 2021, 70: 101397.
Lu Z, Pu C, Zhang Y, et al. Oxidative stress and psychiatric disorders: evidence from the bidirectional Mendelian randomization study. Antioxidants, 2022, 11(7): 1386.
Calder PC, Ahluwalia N, Brouns F, et al. Dietary factors and low-grade inflammation in relation to overweight and obesity. Br J Nutr, 2011, 106 (Suppl 3): S5–S78.
Dyer AH, McNulty H, Caffrey A, et al. Low-grade systemic inflammation is associated with domain-specific cognitive performance and cognitive decline in older adults: Data from the TUDA study. Neurobiol Aging, 2024, 134: 94-105.
Osimo EF, Cardinal RN, Jones PB, et al. Prevalence and correlates of low-grade systemic inflammation in adult psychiatric inpatients: An electronic health record-based study. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2018, 91: 226–234.
Katuri RB, Gaur GS, Sahoo JP, et al. Association of circulating brain-derived neurotrophic factor with cognition among adult obese population. J Obes Metab Syndr, 2021, 30(2): 163–172.
Cho HD, Kim JH, Park JK, et al. Kochia scoparia seed extract suppresses VEGF-induced angiogenesis via modulating VEGF receptor 2 and PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathways. Pharm Biol, 2019, 57(1): 684–693.
Gudoityte E, Arandarcikaite O, Mazeikiene I, et al. Ursolic and oleanolic acids: plant metabolites with neuroprotective potential. Int J Mol Sci, 2021, 22(9): 4599.
Dinan L, Dioh W, Veillet S, et al. 20-Hydroxyecdysone, from plant extracts to clinical use: therapeutic potential for the treatment of neuromuscular, cardio-metabolic and respiratory diseases. Biomedicines, 2021, 9(5): 492.
Fan L, Peng Y, Li X. Brain regional pharmacokinetics of hydroxytyrosol and its molecular mechanism against depression assessed by multi-omics approaches. Phytomedicine, 2023, 112: 154712.
Sharma D, Singh M, Kumar P, Vikram V, et al. Development and characterization of morin hydrate-loaded microemulsion for the management of Alzheimer’s disease. Artific Cells Nanomed Biotechnol, 2017, 45(8): 1620–1630.
Verma N, Raghuvanshi DS, Singh RV. Recent advances in the chemistry and biology of oleanolic acid and its derivatives. Eur J Med Chem, 2024, 276: 116619.
Jeon SJ, Lee HJ, Lee HE, et al. Oleanolic acid ameliorates cognitive dysfunction caused by cholinergic blockade via TrkB-dependent BDNF signaling. Neuropharmacology, 2017, 113(Pt A): 100–109.
Zwetsloot, K, van Onselen L, Moorefi eld E, et al. Effect of 20-hydroxyecdysone on the immune response following eccentric muscle injury in C57BL/6 mice. Physiology, 2023, 38: S1.
Bertelli M, Kiani AK, Paolacci S, et al. Hydroxytyrosol: a natural compound with promising pharmacological activities. J Biotechnol, 2020, 309: 29–33.
Calahorra J, Shenk J, Wielenga VH, et al. Hydroxytyrosol, the major phenolic compound of olive oil, as an acute therapeutic strategy after ischemic stroke. Nutrients, 2019, 11(10): 2430.
Rajput, SA, Wang XQ, Yan HC. Morin hydrate: A comprehensive review on novel natural dietary bioactive compound with versatile biological and pharmacological potential. Biomed Pharmacother, 2021, 138: 111511.
Abtulov M, Zhelyazkova-Savova M, Gancheva S, et al. Effect of Kochia scoparia on carrageenan-induced paw edema in an experimental model of metabolic syndrome. Bulg Chem Comm, 2020, 52(D): 75-77.
Gancheva S, Tzaneva M, Valcheva-Kuzmanova S, et al. Antiobesity, antioxidant and hepatoprotective properties of aqueous infusion of Kochia scoparia seeds in rats with diet-induced metabolic syndrome. Bulg Chem Comm, 2020, 52(D): 60-67.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 M. Reyzov, S. Gancheva, M. Eftimov, M. Todorova, S. Valcheva-Kuzmanova, M. Zhelyazkova-Savova (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You are free to share, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format under these terms.
Journal Acta Medica Bulgarica 
