Comparing the impact of chronic energy restriction and vitamin E supplementation on the behavior of adult rats

• Published in: Archivos latinoamericanos de nutrición Vol. 59; no. 3; pp. 287 - 295
• Main Authors: Derlange B Diniz, Suzana L de Oliveira, Liana L Melo, Jaime Amaya-Farfan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedad Latinoamericana de Nutrición
• Subjects: comportamiento; dieta; dieta antioxidante; restricción energética; suplementación con vitamina e
• ISSN: 0004-0622

The purpose of this work was to investigate the influence of energy restriction and vitamin E supplementation on memory, learning, anxiety and spontaneous locomotion in adult rats. Three-month old male Wistar rats were grouped according to diet: Control (AIN 93-M; n=18), Supplemented (AIN 93-M + 1425 IU all-rac-α-tocopheryl acetate/kg diet; n=22) and Restricted (AIN 93-M with 30% reduction in carbohydrate energy; n=23). Sixteen weeks after, the passive avoidance (PA), elevated plus-maze (EPM) and open field (OF) tests were applied. In the EPM test, the behavioral profile of the supplemented group was characterized by a lower frequency of entries into the open arms (P < 0,026), whereas the restricted group showed a lower frequency of head dipping (P < 0,003). The ratio between the time span of the shocks and the number of attempts were larger for the supplemented than for the non-supplemented animals (P = 0,0474), thus suggesting a delay in learning in the PA test. Taken together, these results suggest that a long-term combination of carbohydrate energy restriction in rats should not cause negative behavioral alterations. Compared with vitamin E supplementation, the restricted diet performed equally or better in rats as an alternate antioxidant diet.