Histoarchitectural and Behavioral Characterization of the Prefrontal Cortex of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Male Wistar Rat and Neuroprotective Role of Virgin Coconut Oil

Aims: This research is aimed at investigating the possible effects of Virgin Coconut Oil on Histomorphology of the prefrontal cortex of type 2 diabetes male Wister rat.

Study Design and Methodology: Animals used for this research experiment was 32 male Wistar rats, and were grouped as follows;

Group A- Control group received water and feed ad libitum.

Group B – Received 0.6ml of Virgin coconut oil for 56 days

Group C – Received High-fat diet and 35 mg/kg of streptozotocin for 3days

Group D – Received High-fat diet ad libitum for 56days, 35mg/kg of streptozotocin for 3 days and then 0.6ml virgin coconut oil for 28 days.

The body weights of the animals were measured every week using a weighing balance. The neurobehavioral analysis was carried out using Barnes maze to measure spatial learning and memory. The animals were sacrificed by cervical dislocation at the end of the experiment and the tissue removed for histological procedures which include: Haematoxylin & Eosin, and Cresyl fast Violet.

Place and Duration of Study: This work was carried out at Department of Anatomy Ben Carson School of Medicine Babcock University Ilishan Remo, Ogun State Nigeria and the experiment started on the 1st of February and ended on the 14th of March, 2017.

Results: Diabetes mellitus group lost a significant amount of weight, But the Virgin Coconut oil group animals added a significant amount of weight which suggests that VCO helps improve appetite.

The diabetes mellitus group had the highest latency in the Barnes maze test while the Virgin Coconut Oil group had the lowest primary latency.

Normal histological features of the Control and VCO treated (control) groups did not show any observable altered panoramic morphological presentation of the PFC layers. VCO treated group showed slight degenerative changes (yellow arrows) and STZ group showed induced degenerative changes in the cortex and was characterized by fragmented pyramidal and granule cell layer with observable pyknotic cells.

Conclusion: Diabetes affected the prefrontal cortex negatively while virgin coconut oil seems to neutralize the adverse effect and tried to restore the integrity of the prefrontal cortex.