Epigallocatechin-3-gallate improves chronic alcohol-induced cognitive dysfunction in rats by interfering with neuro-inflammatory, cell death and oxido-nitrosative cascade.

Alcohol consumption for a longer period of time is linked with neuronal damage and an increase in inflammatory signaling resulting in cell death and dementia. Natural compounds are the focus of research due to their high efficacy and good safety profile. Here we have investigated the effect of chronic epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) administration against the alcohol-induced cognitive deficit rats. Male Wistar rats were exposed to the 12% ethanol (10 g/kg; oral gavage) for ten weeks and treated with EGCG (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg) for the same duration. Ethanol exposure led to the impaired spatial memory and learning in rats assessed using the Morris water maze and elevated plus-maze test. Further, we assessed the role of EGCG in mitigating the oxidative stress, neuroinflammatory and cell death signaling associated markers. Co-administration with EGCG significantly prevented all the behavioral, biochemical and molecular alterations in the different brain regions of ethanol-treated rats in a dose-dependent manner. EGCG suppressed the acetylcholinesterase activity, increased oxidative-nitrosative stress, cytokines (TNF-alpha and IL-1beta), NF-kappa β and caspase-3 levels in both the cortex and hippocampus of ethanol-treated rats. Our preliminary study demonstrated that EGCG improves the oxido-nitrosative stress, inflammation, and cell death signaling associated with ethanol-induced cognitive dysfunction. This suggests the potential role of EGCG in mitigating the cognitive deficits associated with chronic alcohol consumption.