Ascorbic acid protects against restraint stress-induced memory deficits in Wistar rats.
OBJECTIVE
Chronic stress has been shown to cause oxidative damage in the central nervous system. Although stress-induced impairments in learning and memory have been studied extensively, very few studies have investigated possible ways to prevent their ill effects. The present work was designed to study the protective effects of ascorbic acid in memory loss induced by chronic restraint stress.


METHODS
Adult male Wistar rats were designated into the following groups: (i) Normal control, (ii) Ascorbic acid treatment, (iii) Vehicle control, (iv) Restraint stress, (v) Restraint stress + vehicle, and (vi) Restraint stress + ascorbic acid treatment. At the end of 21 days, animals of all groups were subjected to memory tests using Morris water maze and passive avoidance apparatus. Then, the results obtained were compared between the experimental groups.


RESULTS
Rats exposed to restraint stress alone and those pretreated with vehicle solution before restrained stress showed deficits in learning and impaired memory retention in the memory tests when compared to animals in other experimental groups. Animals pretreated with ascorbic acid before restraining showed significant improvement in memory retention in the same memory tests.


CONCLUSIONS
Results of this study suggest the possibility of using ascorbic acid as a dietary supplement to prevent stress-induced memory impairments.
Kumar
Raju Suresh
RS
Department of Physiology, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, International Centre for Health Sciences, Manipal University - Manipal, Karnataka, India. raju.sureshkumar@manipal.edu
Narayanan
Sareesh Naduvil
SN
Nayak
Satheesha
S
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012149:Restraint, Physical / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects*
D000975:Antioxidants; D001205:Ascorbic Acid