Efeitos da exposição ao ambiente enriquecido em um modelo animal de neurodegeneração induzida pela estreptozotocina

• Ano de defesa: 2016
• Autor(a) principal: Dubinski, Suelen Aline Marinho
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Positivo; Brasil; Pós-Graduação; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia Industrial; UP
• Palavras-chave em Português: Biotecnologia; Alzheimer, Doença de; Distúrbios da memória; Estrepzotocina; CREB-1; CNPQ::CIENCIAS BIOLOGICAS::BIOLOGIA GERAL
• Link de acesso: https://repositorio.cruzeirodosul.edu.br/handle/123456789/2602

The Alzheimer´s disease affects mainly the hippocampus, inducing a progressive neurodegeneration and leading to cognitive impairments. Laboratory animals exposed to an enriched environment show higher behavioral flexibility and a remarkable plasticity in the nervous system. This study evaluated the effects of enriched environment (AE) on cognitive functions and CREB-1 expression in i.c.v. STZ – treated animals. Male Wistar rats were exposed to the AE and submitted to different behavioral tasks. CREB-1 expression in the hippocampus was performed by way of quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The elevated plus maze tasks (LCE) showed that i.c.v. STZ – treated animals crossed into the closed arms more than the other groups, suggesting increased locomotor activity due STZ effects. Additionally, in the object placement and object recognition tasks, these same animals showed higher number of entries in the objects area, regardless their condition (spatial alteration or new object), indicating higher locomotor activity as well, accordingly to the results obtained from the LCE tasks. The gene expression data showed that control animals exposed to AE had higher levels of CREB-1 expression in the hippocampus, suggesting that this increase in CREB-1 expression in these animals may be related to the benefits of an exposure to a more complex sensorial environment. Thus, this study showed that i.c.v. STZ – induced animals have behavioral characteristics of hyperactivity and the exposure to an enriched environment can stimulate the expression of a transcription factor involved in plasticity and memory consolidation.