Interspecific Differences in Behavioral Responses and Neuromotorics between Laboratory Rodents Receiving Rations with Easily Digested Carbohydrates

Abstract

We assessed the effect of intake of easily digested carbohydrates for 133 days on quantitative parameters of neuromotorics and cognitive function in Wistar rats and C57Bl/6J mice. Neuromotorics (muscle tone) was assessed in rats and mice by the forelimb muscle force (grip strength) over 4 months. Anxiety was assessed in the elevated plus-maze test and cognitive function (short-term and long-term memory) was evaluated by conditioned passive avoidance response (CPAR) test over 3 months. The mice, in contrast to rats, receiving the diet with easily digested sugars demonstrated suppression of neuromotorics. Anxiety increased with age in female mice, but not in rats, irrespective of the diet. Cognitive function in rats receiving experimental rations did not change significantly in comparison with the control. In mice, consumption of equimolar mixture of fructose and glucose impared short-term, but not long-term memory, in comparison with the group receiving glucose alone. We revealed a small (by 14-17%), but statistically significant increase in the brain weight in mice receiving fructose and sucrose. The study demonstrates sufficient interspecies differences in the influence of carbohydrate rations on neuromotorics and behavioral responses in the in vivo metabolic syndrome model.

Effects of Tyrosine and Tryptophan Supplements on the Vital Indicators in Mice Differently Prone to Diet-Induced Obesity

“…The anxiety-like behavior in mice, detected in EPM ( Figure 5 ), increased in the 2nd testing according to parameters of the center entrance latency, time spent in OA, and the ratio of closed arms (CA) to OA times. These findings coincide with the previously obtained data from C57Black/6J mice, which represent a parental line for DBCB tetrahybrid [ 15 ]. Anxiety increase most clearly manifested in a decrease in the latency time to the first exit to the maze center, the time spent in the OA in DBA/2J mice, and an increase in the CA/OA ratio in DBCB tetrahybrid ( p < 0.05, ANOVA, by the test factor).…”

“…Male mice of inbred line DBA/2J, which were obtained from the nursery Stolbovaya (Stolbovaya, Moscow region, Russia), and a complex hybrid of the 2nd generation (referred to here as tetrahybrid) DBCB bred independently by crossing 4 different inbred lines of mice (DBA/2J, BALB/c, CBA/lac, and C57Black/6J) were used. The age of the animals at the beginning of the experiment was 8–9 weeks; the initial body weight (bw) was 24 ± 2 g. The method for breeding hybrid mice was presented earlier [ 15 ]. The work with animals was carried out following the rules of good laboratory practice [ 29 ] and in accordance with the Order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation No.…”

“…Behavioral reactions (locomotor activity and anxiety levels) were studied in the elevated plus maze (EPM) installation (Panlab Harvard Apparatus company, Barcelona, Spain) on the 8th and 59th days of the experiment by the techniques described earlier [ 15 ].…”

Feed restriction since lactation has reduced anxiety in adult Wistar rats

“…Despite the animals in groups P and especially those in group G showing less weight gain after 72 or 182 days treatment, the behavior in EPM was similar to animals in groups C, GL and L. These data match those in the literature when animals were treated with a diet rich in sucrose [5,6], rich in protein [20] and rich in lipids [7,9,10,16] and also showed no change when tested in the EPM. However, the diet rich in lipids had an anxiolytic [13] and anxiogenic effect [11,12,14,15,17].…”

“…The assessment of anxiety in animals treated with obesogenic diets (rich in carbohydrates [5,6], lipids [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] and carbohydrates and lipids [18,19]) is controversial. For some authors, the diet did not change the behavior in the EPM [5][6][7]9,10,16,20], for others it increased [8,11,12,14,15,[17][18][19] or reduced anxiety [13].…”