Development of ethanol-induced working memory impairment model in Wistar rats: behavioral and neurochemical studies

Introduction. Alcohol withdrawal is an important factor that may lead to cognitive impairment. It is known that an alcohol withdrawal leads to significant memory and learning deficits in rats in various tests. Taking into account the need to develop novel ways of pharmacological correction of alcohol dependence, the goal of this work was to develop and validate an experimental model of alcohol induced impairments associated with the function of non-spatial hippocampal-dependent working memory. Material and methods. The experiments were performed on mature male Wistar rats weighing 275-300 g. (n = 16) Wistar rats were randomly divided into control (n=8) and experimental (n=8) groups. Animals from the experimental group were injected with ethanol at intervals of 2 hours at a dose of 3 g / kg per day, intragastrically, for 7 days, animals from the control group received distilled water in the same mode at the rate of 0.1 ml/100 g of body weight. 24 hours after the last injection of the ethanol solution, the animals behavior was evaluated in the "new object recognition" test. After completing behavioral studies, the animals were decapitated, brain structures (anterior cingulate cortex, insular cortex, nucleus accumbens, and hippocampus) were extracted on ice, and frozen in liguid nitrogen. The determination of neurotransmitter monoamines and amino acids was performed by HPLC. Results. There was a decrease in dopamine turnover in the hippocampus and anterior cingulate cortex, a decrease in the activity of the serotonergic system in the insular cortex. Conclusion. Alcohol at a dose of 3 g / kg with subchronic administration per os impairs the working non-spatial memory of Wistar rats.

ethanol, operative memory, neuromediator monoamines and amino acids, HPLC, Wistar rats