Decreased memory for novel object recognition induced by chronic food restriction is reverted by acute ghrelin administration while hexarelin, a growth hormone secretagogue, exerts opposite effects

VALERIA PAOLA CARLINI; ANA CAROLINA MARTINI; HELGUI SCHIÜOTH; RUBEN DANIEL RUIZ; MARTA FIOL DE CUNEO; SUSANA RUBIALES DE BARIOGLIO

NEUROSCIENCE

Elsevier B.V

Lugar: Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Año: 2008 vol. 153 p. 929 - 929

0306-4522

b> Abstract—It has been demonstrated, in normal and aged rats and mice, that acute i.c.v. ghrelin (Ghr) administration increases memory retention. In order to evaluate if this treatment, restores memory retention in animals exhibiting impaired memory, in the present work we selected a chronic food restriction mouse model (since undernutrition prejudices higher nervous functions). We employed adult female mice with 28 days of 50% food restriction and evaluated: a) behavioral performance using novel object recognition test for memory, and plus maze for anxiety-like behavior, b) some morphometric parameters as body and hepatic weights and c) plasma Ghr levels. The animals with 50% food restriction showed an increase in plasma Ghr levels and a decrease in morphometric parameters and in the percentage of novel object recognition time. When the peptide was i.c.v. injected in food-restricted animals (0.03, 0.3 or 3.0 nmol/m