Does High Protein Diets Effects on the Cornu Ammonis 1 Neurons in Male Rats?

Abstract

Introduction: The region of Cornu Ammonis 1 (CA1) in hippocampus has an obvious role in alteration of short-term memory to long-term. Proteins, as a crucial aspect of the cells, are involved in the structure and function of hippocampus. Aim: To study the effects of High Protein Diet (HPD) on CA1 and learning defect in rats. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 20 Wistar male rats were divided into two groups by random samplling: the groups of control (normal diet including 14% protein was used) and HPD (35% protein). Animals in HPD group were daily fed HPD for 10 months. Body weight was measured. Transcardiac perfusion procedure was applied for tissue fixation. Passive avoidance learning of animals was examined by shuttle-box apparatus technique. The number of dendritic spines was investigated by Golgi staining protocol. Also, Cresyl Violet staining was used to determine the number of neurons in the hippocampal area of CA1. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was applied to confirm the normal distribution of data and t-test was used for determination of differences among the groups. SPSS version 16 was used for data analyses. Results: The Passive Avoidance Learning of the HPD rats was significantly higher compared to the control group (p-value <0.05). HPD increased the body weight, the number of neuronal dendritic spines and neurons in comparison to the control group (p-value <0.05). Conclusion: It can be concluded that the administration of HPD has useful effects on the structure and function of the hippocampal region of CA1 in male rats.

Keywords

• golgi staining protocol
• long-term memory
• proper nutrition
• short-term memory
• spines