Background and Objective: The brain is vulnerable to the oxidative stress and organophosphates (OP) interaction with the body antioxidant system can induce neuropathy and memory disturbance. Evaluation of minimum toxic dose of diazinone (DZ)-induced oxidative stress and its effects on memory acquisition in male rats.
Materials and Methods: DZ (25 mg/kg, oral) was administered for 2, 4 and 6 weeks. The memory acquisition of the rats were assessed in the Morris water maze (MWM) and then the oxidative stress was evaluated by determination of the malondialdehide (MDA) concentration and measurement of total plasma and brain antioxidant power.
Results: There was not a significant difference between the control and DZ treated groups for time, distance and swimming speed parameters to find invisible stair. However, DZ administration for 2, 4 and 6 weeks time-dependently caused significant increment of antioxidant powers of plasma and brain. Also, DZ could significantly increase the MDA levels of plasma and brain in 6 weeks treated group in comparison with the control.
Conclusion: DZ-induced oxidative stress had no effect on memory acquisition parameters in rats. Regarding the role of acetylcholine in memory improvement, insignificant change in memory acquisition could be related to the concomitant role of oxidative agent in destruction and acetylcholine in amelioration of the memory.