Behavioral effects following administration of olive in rats

Saida Haider, Saima Khaliq, Saiqa Tabassum, Shazia Nawaz Nawaz, Saara Ahmad, Waseem Ahmad, Darakhshan Jabeen Haleem

Abstract
Objective: Olive oil is a major component of the Mediterranean diet suggested to be beneficial to counteract Alzheimer's disease. Olive oil fruit, its oil and the leaves of olive tree have a rich history of nutritional and medicinal uses. It possesses anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, antiapoptotic effect and its increased consumption may maintain cognitive functions. Our objective was to examine the association between olive oil use, food intake, anxiety, locomotor activity and spatial working memory in male rats.
Methods: Twelve adult male albino Wistar rats were divided into control and test groups. The test group was orally administered with olive oil (4 ml/kg/day) while control animals received an equal amount of water daily for 10 days. Food intake was measured daily. Open Field Test, Water Maze Test and Light Dark Box were used for the assessment of locomotor activity, memory function and anxiety.
Results: Results showed that following olive oil administration significantly decreased food intake and significantly decreased locomotor activity in open field test was observed. Spatial working memory of olive oil treated rats was significantly improved in water maze test while time spent in light box was significantly increased indicating olive oil’s anxiolytic effect.
Conclusion: Our Findings highlight on the potential importance of olive oil as memory enhancing agent and on its beneficial effects on health and support the use of olive oil as food supplement for the enhancement of memory functions. Neurochemical mechanism that led to improvement in memory function following olive oil administration needs to be confirmed by further studies.

Key words: Olive oil, spatial working memory, anxiety, food intake.