Effect of Luteolin on Learning and Memory Ability of Neonatal Rats With Hypoxic-Ischemic Neuronal Damage

The present study designed to explored the beneficial effect of luteolin on hypoxic-ischemic (HI) induced learning and memory impairments in rat pups. Postnatal seven days old rat pups (P7) have been used to establish the HI by unilateral carotid artery ligation and subsequent hypoxic exposure. Following HI insult, two group of rats treated with increasing concentration of luteolin 25, and 50 mg/kg bw up to seven days. Object recognition test (ORT) and Morris water maze (MWM) experiment shows severe spatial memory deficits in HI rats, whereas higher dose of luteolin treatment resulted significant improvement in learning and memory ability and reduced the cerebral oedema (31.909 +/- 2.89 %) compared to minimal dose (60.075 +/- 1.95 %). In addition, luteolin administration significantly (p < 0.05) alleviated the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby markedly (p < 0.05) improved the antioxidant status. These results substantiated the therapeutic efficacy of luteolin against HI induced brain injury.