Administration of Young Coconut ( Cocos nucifera L.) Juice Ameliorates Memory Impairment in a Menopausal Rat Model

• Published in: Diseases Vol. 12; no. 10; p. 250
• Main Authors: Sugiyama, Saeko, Matsushita, Hiroshi, Minami, Akira, Nakao, Hatsune, Hata, Shota, Matsumoto, Ayumi, Takeuchi, Hideyuki, Wakatsuki, Akihiko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 12-10-2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Animal cognition; Animal models; Body weight; Brain; Camcorders; Cardiovascular disease; Chemical properties; coconut; Coconut products; Cocos nucifera; Cognition disorders; Complications and side effects; depression; Depression, Mental; Diet therapy; Drinking water; Drug dosages; Estrogen; Estrogens; Fruit juices; Health aspects; Medical research; Memory; memory impairment; Menopause; Menstruation; Mental depression; Mortality; Osteoporosis; Ovariectomy; Post-menopause; Postmenopausal women; rat; Risk factors; Spatial memory; Surgery; Uterus; Womens health; Xenoestrogens; Japan; United States > US; depression; menopause; rat; memory impairment; ovariectomy; coconut
• ISSN: 2079-9721; 2079-9721
• DOI: 10.3390/diseases12100250

In Southeast Asia, the traditional use of young coconut (
L.) juice (YCJ) by women to alleviate postmenopausal symptoms suggests potential estrogenic properties. However, few studies explore the impact of YCJ on pathologies associated with estrogen deficiency in postmenopausal animal models. This study examines the impact of YCJ supplementation on memory impairment and depression-like behavior in ovariectomized (Ovx) rats.
Ten-week-old female rats underwent either a sham operation (Sham) or bilateral Ovx. The rats in the Ovx + YCJ group received 5×-concentrated YCJ by gavage at a dose of 15 mL/kg body weight. Twelve weeks later, the Morris water maze and forced swim tests were used to evaluate hippocampus-dependent spatial memory and depression-like behavior, respectively.
The Ovx rats displayed significant memory impairment (
< 0.05) and depression-like behaviors (
< 0.05), while the memory performance in the rats in the Ovx + YCJ group resembled that of the Sham rats. However, the administration of YCJ did not result in the improvement of depression-like behavior.
These findings suggest that YCJ consumption may help ameliorate memory impairment in postmenopausal women.