Evaluation of nootropic activity of Slimaluma, an enriched phytochemical composition of Caralluma fimbriata in mice

In today's life of stress and strain, the need of agent called nootropic having neuroprotective and neuropharmacological activity, enhancing learning and memory functions of brain has directed the interest of scientific community to validate the claims made about herbs in the official books of Ayurveda [1, 2]. The Caralluma fimbriata (CF) family Asclepiadaceae is an edible succulent that is claimed to promote learning and memory but not documented so far[3] hence we have undertaken the evaluation of nootropic activity of Slimaluma (SL), branded product and an enriched phytochemical composition developed from CF in mice using four different paradigms.

Each model had six groups consisting of six male albino mice each, including vehicle treated control, reference standard Piracetam and four different doses (100, 250, 500 and 1000mg/kg) of SL. The mice were pretreated as per the standard protocol [1, 4, 5, 6] and the data obtained was analysed by using ANOVA followed by the Dunnetts test.

The SL 250, 500mg/kg (P<0.05) and 1000mg/kg (P<0.01) significantly increased the discrimination index Indicating an improvement in nonspiatal memory with the characteristic of episodic memory [7]. In Morris water maze, all the doses were equally significant in reducing the escape latency while SL 500 and 1000mg/kg significantly reduced the distance traveled and thereby reported its effectiveness towards the memory based upon spatial navigation [6]. The SL-250, 500 and 1000mg/kg were significant in reducing the time spent in open arm and thereby exhibited anxiolytic activity [4]. In radial arm maze, none of the dose was significant, which may be due to the appetite suppression [3]. To conclude, SL significantly facilitated spatial and non-spatial memory functions and exhibited anxiolytic action. Hence may be used to treat the related disorders of learning and memory and to relive anxiety without affecting the cognitive function.

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