Abstract

Background: The basal ganglia historically been considered as a part of the motor system because of the variety of motor deficits that occur when they are damaged. But now it is considered as “extrapyramidal” motor system, and the disorders of basal ganglia are called extrapyramidal disorders. One type of symptoms that result from basal ganglia disorders is called as Huntington’s Chorea. As this disorder involves with symptoms like dyskinesias - abnormal involuntary movements, we felt it is necessary to protect our nervous system from such a disorder if possible in a painless regular fashion by a herb. Materials and Methods: We used adult male Sprague Dawly rats for this study. Animals were divided into 5 groups and were given either Withania somnifera extract or the active component Withanolide A in different concentrations 10 days prior to lesion surgery and continued 5 days post surgery. The neuroprotective role of the drug employed was analyzed on the 5th day post lesion by using foot print test in a run way. Result: The gait and balance of the animals were taken as a measure to analyze the protective nature of the striatum and so the activity of the drug employed here. The gait and balance of the LC animals were poor stating the unprotective nature of striatum. But the balance and gait of both drug group animals were comparatively better than the LC animals. That clearly stated the neuroprotective capacity of both the drugs used for this study. Conclusion: Based on the observations and results we came to a conclusion that both the ethanolic extract and the active component withanolide A have the capacity in protecting the striatum and so can be used as a food supplement on a daily basis to protect our striatum. If needed further research can be conducted to analyze deep into the therapeutic effects of these herbal drugs.

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