Total isoflavones from soybean and tempeh reversed scopolamine-induced amnesia, improved cholinergic activities and reduced neuroinflammation in brain

•Soybean and tempeh isoflavones reversed scopolamine-induced memory impairment.•Soybean and tempeh isoflavones improved brain cholinergic activities.•Soybean and tempeh isoflavones reduced neuroinflammation.•Tempeh isoflavone expressed a higher potential as compared to soybean isoflavone. The present study was undertaken to compare the neuroprotective effects between total isoflavones from soybean and tempeh against scopolamine-induced cognitive dysfunction. Total isoflavones (10, 20 and 40mg/kg) from soybean (SI) and tempeh (TI) were administered orally to different groups of rats (n=6) for 15days. Piracetam (400mg/kg, p.o.) was used as a standard drug while scopolamine (1mg/kg, i.p.) was used to induce amnesia in the animals. Radial arm and elevated plus mazes served as exteroceptive behavioural models to measure memory. Brain cholinergic activities (acetylcholine and acetylcholinesterase) and neuroinflammatory activities (COX-1, COX-2, IL-1β and IL10) were also assessed. Treatment with SI and TI significantly reversed the scopolamine effect and improved memory with TI group at 40mg/kg, p.o. exhibiting the best improvement (p