_{<strong>NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF GARCINIA KOLA EXTRACT ON THE BRAIN OF WISTAR RATS FOLLOWING ISCHEMIC REPERFUSION INJURY USING BILATERAL COMMON CAROTID ARTRY</strong>}

Stroke is one of the most common and silent causes of mortality and morbidity in the world. Prevention and effective treatment of stroke is of the utmost importance. Hence, this research focuses on understanding how Garcinia kola extract (Bitter kola) a plant seed widely used in traditional medicine for its therapeutic properties, can exhibit its protective properties on the brain of female Wistar rats. The study provides in-depth into how the pre-treatment with Garcinia kola (Bitter kola) mitigated the detrimental effects of ischemic stroke on the brain structures of female Wistar rats.To achieve this, the research involves dividing female Wistar rats into groups, rats in some group were administered Garcinia kola extract and were induced, some were administered with vitamin E and were induced with by the occlusion of BCCA . Animals were then sacrificed and the brain was dissected and processed for biochemical estimation of markers of oxidative stress and histological analysis. Results indicated that there was amelioration of 2-VO ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) induced neuronal cells dysfunction by bitter kola (Garcinia kola) extract pre-treatment on the hippocampus, visual cortex and frontal cortex of the Wistar rats and also, pre-treatment with Garcinia kola also attenuated I/R-induced decrease in enzymatic antioxidant due to ROS in the brain, it brought about significant remarkable correction in the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), lipid peroxidation (decreased)and Glutathione (GSH) by increasing their activities, also the reduction in malondialdehyde(MDA) activities in the brain.