الملخص الإنجليزي
Alzheimer disease (AD) is a relentlessly progressive degenerative disorder of the human central nervous system. The number of affected people is increasing worldwide annually. Chemical drugs used in the treatment have many side effects therefore finding new treatment pathway is mandatory in order to solve this global problem. Although there are no proven ways to delay onset or slow progression of (AD), studies suggest that diet can affect risk. The active compounds in some fruit have been found effective in delaying the onset of AD. This study used Omani pomegranate to find out its effect on transgenic mice model of Alzheimer's disease. Behavioral tests have been done to examine the improvement or decline in the learning abilities, anxiety and motor coordination in three groups of animal models (wild type, diseased with normal diet, and diseased fed 4% pomegranate diet). The procedures involved studying their behaviors at O month of starting treatment, 3, 6, and 9 months. It include five behavioral tests which are morris water maze and T maze test to assess the learning & memory abilities, elevated plus-maze and open field tests for anxiety and motor coordination was assessed by rota rod. Pomegranate has been shown its effectiveness in reducing the behavioral AD symptoms in the mice model. There was significant difference (p<0.05) and improvement in the behavioral activities of mice fed with 4% pomegranate compared with the diseased control group. This difference was obvious in the pomegranate treated mice at the periods of 6th and 9th months. They showed high improvement in the learning ability, less anxiety and good motor coordination compared with the diseased group in all tests have been used. The study concludes that, pomegranate might have the ability to reduce the onset of AD and slow down its progression in AD transgenic mice.
