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Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) perinatal exposure effects on the development, behavior and biochemical parameters in
1Department of Basic Sciences, College of Education, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O. Box 2375, Dammam 31451, Saudi Arabia.
Insights
Perinatal exposure to cardamom, the queen of spices, enhanced learning and memory in mice offspring. However, developmental milestones like body weight gain and reflex maturation were significantly delayed.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience and Developmental Biology
- Pharmacology and Toxicology
- Nutritional Science
Background:
- Cardamom, known as the queen of spices, possesses potent antioxidant properties.
- The impact of perinatal cardamom exposure on offspring neurodevelopment and biochemical parameters remains underexplored.
- Understanding cardamom's effects is crucial for evaluating its potential as a beneficial dietary supplement.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of maternal cardamom consumption during pregnancy and lactation on the developmental, learning, and memory abilities of mice offspring.
- To assess the impact of cardamom on key biochemical markers related to neurotransmission and oxidative stress in the developing brain.
Main Methods:
- Pregnant mice were fed diets containing 10% or 20% cardamom from gestation day 1 to postnatal day 15.
- Offspring underwent assessments including physical development, neuromaturation reflexes, learning and memory tests, and forebrain biochemical analyses (monoamines, TBARS, GSH).
- Control groups received a standard diet without cardamom supplementation.
Main Results:
- Cardamom exposure led to significant delays in body weight gain, hair appearance, and eye opening.
- Neuromaturation reflexes (righting, rotating, cliff avoidance) were also significantly delayed in treated offspring.
- Despite developmental delays, cardamom significantly enhanced learning ability and memory retention, increased dopamine, serotonin, and GSH levels, and inhibited TBARS.
Conclusions:
- Perinatal cardamom exposure positively impacts learning and memory in mice offspring, suggesting beneficial neuroactive compounds are transferred via placenta and/or milk.
- While enhancing cognitive functions, cardamom also induced significant developmental delays, highlighting a complex dose-dependent effect.
- Further research is warranted to elucidate the mechanisms behind cardamom's effects and explore its potential benefits across various behavioral domains.
Abstract:
Cardamom is a strong antioxidant plant, so it is called the queen of spices. In the present study, we explored the potentials of cardamom on developmental, learning ability and biochemical parameters of mice offspring. Thirty pregnant mice were allocated to three groups of ten animals in each. Groups Π and Ш received pilsbury's Diet containing 10 and 20% of cardamom (w/w) respectively, whereas Group I used as control. Cardomom was administered from the first day of pregnancy and was continued until post-natal day 15 (PD 15) and thereafter the mothers were switched to plain pilsbury's Diet. During the weaning period, three pups in each litter were color marked from the others, and were subjected to various tests (Physical assessment such body weight and eye opening and hair appearance; the neuromaturation of reflexes like righting, rotating, and cliff avoidance reflexes; learning ability and memory retention; estimation of monoamines neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, non-enzymatic oxidative stress such as TBARS and GSH in forebrain at different ages of pups). The results indicated that the body weight gain was declining significantly. Hair appearance and eyes opening were delayed significantly. Righting, rotating, and cliff avoidance reflexes were delayed in treated animals. Exposure to cardamom led to enhance learning and memory retention as compared to control. Monoamines (DA, 5-HT) and GSH were elevated, whereas TBARS was inhibited significantly. In conclusion, perinatal cardamom exposure enhanced learning and memory as compared to control. Cardamom and its benefit compounds were transported via placenta or/and milk during lactation. Cardamom needs more researches to investigate its benefits on other kinds of behavior.
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