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Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat

Assam Agricultural University is the first institution of its kind in the whole of North-Eastern Region of India. The main goal of this institution is to produce globally competitive human resources in farm sectorand to carry out research in both conventional and frontier areas for production optimization as well as to disseminate the generated technologies as public good for benefitting the food growers/produces and traders involved in the sector while emphasizing on sustainability, equity and overall food security at household level. Genesis of AAU - The embryo of the agricultural research in the state of Assam was formed as early as 1897 with the establishment of the Upper Shillong Experimental Farm (now in Meghalaya) just after about a decade of creation of the agricultural department in 1882. However, the seeds of agricultural research in today’s Assam were sown in the dawn of the twentieth century with the establishment of two Rice Experimental Stations, one at Karimganj in Barak valley in 1913 and the other at Titabor in Brahmaputra valley in 1923. Subsequent to these research stations, a number of research stations were established to conduct research on important crops, more specifically, jute, pulses, oilseeds etc. The Assam Agricultural University was established on April 1, 1969 under The Assam Agricultural University Act, 1968’ with the mandate of imparting farm education, conduct research in agriculture and allied sciences and to effectively disseminate technologies so generated. Before establishment of the University, there were altogether 17 research schemes/projects in the state under the Department of Agriculture. By July 1973, all the research projects and 10 experimental farms were transferred by the Government of Assam to the AAU which already inherited the College of Agriculture and its farm at Barbheta, Jorhat and College of Veterinary Sciences at Khanapara, Guwahati. Subsequently, College of Community Science at Jorhat (1969), College of Fisheries at Raha (1988), Biswanath College of Agriculture at Biswanath Chariali (1988) and Lakhimpur College of Veterinary Science at Joyhing, North Lakhimpur (1988) were established. Presently, the University has three more colleges under its jurisdiction, viz., Sarat Chandra Singha College of Agriculture, Chapar, College of Horticulture, Nalbari & College of Sericulture, Titabar. Similarly, few more regional research stations at Shillongani, Diphu, Gossaigaon, Lakhimpur; and commodity research stations at Kahikuchi, Buralikson, Tinsukia, Kharua, Burnihat and Mandira were added to generate location and crop specific agricultural production packages.

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20171
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Subject: Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology × Author: SAIKIA, BEENITA × End date: 2022 × Thesis Type: Ph.D ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    STUDIES ON THE THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL OF A FEW MEDICINAL PLANT EXTRACTS AS MEMORY ENHANCERS ON EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED COGNITIVE DYSFUNCTION IN LABORATORY ANIMAL MODELS
    (Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara, Guwahati, 2017-07) SAIKIA, BEENITA; Barua, Chandana Choudhury
    The present study was undertaken to explore the cognition-enhancing activity of different extracts of few medicinal plants. Ethanol, hydroethanol, aqueous, petroleum ether, n- hexane, ethyle acetate and chloroform extracts of seeds of Zanthoxylum alatum and leaves of Conyza bonariensis were experimentally used to treat scopolamine-induced amnesia in rats and mice. Four (4) different models, universally used for learning and memory studies, were utilized in the present study, i.e., Elevated plus maze (EPM) and Morris water maze (MWM) in mice, Radial arm maze (RAM) and Barnes maze (BM) in rats. The study was targeted to develop plant-based anti-amnesic agents. Preliminary behavioural studies were performed for all the extracts using Morris water Maze. Hydroethanolic extract of Z. alatum (HEZA) and petroleum ether extract of C. bonariensis (PECB) were found to be more active than other extracts. The extracts were further subjected to detailed biochemical and molecular analyses in order to assess their mechanism of action. The animals were divided into nine (9) groups, each consisting of 6-10 numbers of animals. Tacrine (3 mg/kg; intra-peritonial) was used as standard nootropic drug. Scopolamine (0.4 mg/kg, intra-peritonial) was used to produce amnesia. Phytochemical studies revealed that HEZA contains terpenoids, tannins and saponins; whereas PECB contains alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, saponins and glycosides. HEZA and PECB exhibited cognition-enhancing activity as indicated by a significant reduction in the transfer latency (TL) and increased in inflexion ratio (IR), in the EPM. Likewise, reduction in escape latency (EL) and path length and increased time spent in target quadrant (TSTQ) in MWM; decreased WME (working memory error) and RME (reference memory error) in RAM; decreased escape latency (EL) in BM, indicated protection from loss of memory after treatment with HEZA and PECB. Standard drug tacrine showed similar result. Pretreatment with standard drug tacrine and test drug HEZA and PECB significantly decreased the AChE activity and also prevented scopolamine-evoked oxidative stress by improving reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and decreasing lipid peroxidation (LPO) and nitrite (NO) level. HEZA and PECB also inhibited the scopolamine-induced β amyloid accumulation and pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β) and also significantly increased the anti-inflammatoty cytokine (IL-10). HEZA and PECB also significantly increased the mRNA expression of Nrf2, HO-1, PP2A and decreased the mRNA expression of AChE, Tau, NFκB in the hippocampus of mice and rats. The same results were also observed after treatment with tacrine, when compared with scopolamine-treated animals. The immunoblotting assay showed significant up regulation of BDNF and TrkB protein expression with simultaneous down regulation of caspase-3 and Bax protein expression in the hippocampal tissues of mice and rats similar to tacrine, as compared with scopolamine treated group. In conclusion, HEZA & PECB exhibit multiple pathways for cognition enhancement in scopolamine-induced amnesia in mice and rats. The mechanism by which HEZA & PECB performs anti-amnesic activity could be through inhibition of the key enzymes AChE, preventing Tau aggregation, impending neuro-inflammation, increase BDNF level and its antioxidants property. HEZA showed more potency than PECB in cognition enhancement where as tacrine, showed the best activity in all the models comparable to Z. alatum. Therefore, it might be suggested that these two test plants might go a long way in the management of cognitive dysfunctions in human and animal subject. However, further studies are required to isolate the active compounds responsible for cognition-enhancing property.