Análise morfológica do córtex motor e do giro denteado em animais hiperlipidêmicos e tratados com Maytenus ilicifolia

Abstract

Hyperlipidemia is a metabolic disorder characterized by elevated circulating lipid levels and is associated with systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, and the development of structural alterations in the central nervous system. In this context, natural compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, such as Maytenus ilicifolia (espinheira-santa), have attracted interest due to their potential neuroprotective effects. The present study aimed to investigate morphometric differences in the motor cortex and dentate gyrus of the hippocampus in normolipidemic, hyperlipidemic, and hyperlipidemic mice treated with an oral gavage of the ethanolic extract of Maytenus ilicifolia to verify if there would be differences in these regions that could be related to neural diseases. Sixteen C57BL/6 mice were divided into four experimental groups: normolipidemic, hyperlipidemic, hyperlipidemic treated with 100 and 400 mg/kg of the extract. Hyperlipidemia was induced with Tyloxapol for 21 days. After euthanasia, the brains were collected and processed for histological analysis using Nissl staining. The morphological analyses included measurements of motor cortex thickness, dentate gyrus layer thickness, neuronal area and density, performed using ImageJ software. The results demonstrated a significant reduction in cortical thickness in hyperlipidemic animals compared with normolipidemic animals, without changes in cortical neuronal density. In the dentate gyrus, animals treated with 100 mg/kg of Maytenus ilicifolia showed greater thickness of the granular layer, as well as a tendency toward preservation of the molecular layer compared with untreated hyperlipidemic animals. These findings suggest that hyperlipidemia promotes morphometric alterations in the brain and that Maytenus ilicifolia exhibits potential neuroprotective effects.