Apelin-13 attenuates spatial memory impairment by anti-oxidative, anti-apoptosis, and anti-inflammatory mechanism against ethanol neurotoxicity in the neonatal rat hippocampus.

It has been shown that alcohol consumption by pregnant women can have detrimental effects on the developing fetus and lead to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Exposure to alcohol in rat pups during this period causes long-term changes in the structure of the animal's hippocampus, leading to impaired hippocampal-related brain functions such as navigation tasks and spatial memory. Apelin-13, a principal neuropeptide with inhibitory effects on neuroinflammation and brain oxidative stress production, has beneficial properties on memory impairment and neuronal injury. The protective effects of apelin-13 have been evaluated on ethanol-related neurotoxicity in the hippocampus of rat pups. Rat pups from 2 until 10 postnatal day, similar to the third trimester of pregnancy in humans, were intubated total daily dose of ethanol (5/27 g/kg/day). Immediately after intubation, 25 and 50 μg/ kg of apelin-13 was injected subcutaneously. By using Morris water maze task, the hippocampus- dependent memory and spatial learning were evaluated 36 days after birth. Then, Immunohistochemical staining was done to determine the levels of GFAP and caspase-3. ELISA assay was also performed to measure both TNF-α and antioxidant enzymes levels. The current study demonstrates that administration of apelin-13 attenuates spatial memory impairment significantly (P < 0.001). After ethanol neurotoxicity, apelin-13 could also increase the catalase level (P < 0.001), activity of total superoxide dismutase as well as glutathione concentration noticeably (P < 0.05). Other impacts of it could be mentioned as attenuating TNF-α production and also preventing lipid peroxidation (P < 0.001). In addition, the results showed that the level of GFAP as a neuroinflammation factor and the number of active caspase-3 positive cells can be decreased by apelin-13 (P < 0.01). Regarding the protective effects of apelin-13 against ethanol-induced neurotoxicity, it is a promising therapeutic choice for FASD; but more studies are needed.