Effect of Vildagliptin on Cognitive Deficits in an Experimental Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

Type 2 diabetes is considered a pivotal risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Aluminium chloride induces hippocampal structural & functional abnormality and causes neurodegeneration. Our study evaluated the effects of vildagliptin on spatial memory, cholinergic activity, and neuronal survival in cornu ammonis 3 (CA3) region of hippocampus in an aluminium chloride-induced AD in male Wistar rats. Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups. All animals except normal control were exposed to aluminium chloride (17 mg/kg/day) and group 3, 4 and 5 were simultaneously received rivastigmine (6 mg/kg/day), vildagliptin (5 mg/kg/day and 10 mg/kg/day) treatment respectively for 30 days. Assessment of spatial memory was followed by estimation of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and quantification of neuronal cell count in CA3 region of hippocampus. Vildagliptin improved spatial memory, decreased acetylcholinesterase levels, and improved neuronal count in CA3 region of hippocampus through multimodal approach. Vildagliptin treatment significantly attenuated aluminium chloride-induced cognitive deficits. It may serve as a promising candidate in the management of concomitant AD and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).