Abstract
Background: Neuronal damage following seizures and epilepsy is one of the main causes of disabilities and mortality worldwide. In recent years, preconditioning has been introduced as a novel strategy for the prevention of brain damage. Preconditioning is a phenomenon in which a minor noxious stimulus protects from a subsequent more severe insult. The aim of present study was to examine the effect of ethanol (Eth) preconditioning on pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced impairment memory in the inhibitory avoidance model.
Material and Methods: This study was carried out on 45 adult male Wistar rats (180-200 g). Animals were assigned into five groups: Control, Eth 0.25, Eth 0.5, PTZ and Eth (0.5) +PTZ (n=9, for all groups). Eth-preconditioning was induced 6 days before the injection of PTZ. The animals were tested in a single trial step-through inhibitory test in two sessions (train and test). Then locomotor activity of rats was recorded in the open-field apparatus and NR1 mRNA expression in the hippocampus was measured by real-time PCR technique.
Results: One-way ANOVA revealed that the Ethanol preconditioning did not impair inhibitory memory. Further, post-test analyses showed that Ethanol preconditioning significantly prevented from PTZ-induced memory impairment, and increased NR1 subunit mRNA expression in PTZ-induced memory impairment group. In addition, one-way ANOVA for the locomotor activity showed no significant difference between the groups.
Conclusion: Our results showed that a pre-conditioning treatment with Ethanol
(0.5g/kg/day), 6 days before PTZ-induced memory impairment may provide a kind of neuroprotection in rats.
 

Abstract
Background: A lot of studies indicate that cancer chemotherapy drugs such as doxorubicin results in memory impairment. On the other hand, crocin as the chemical constituent isolated from the Saffron is effective on memory and motor enhancement. So, in this work, we have studied the co-administration effect of crocin and doxorubicin on avoidance memory and motor activity in adult male rat.
Material and Methods: In this study, 50 male rats were divided into 5 groups: control, sham, doxorubicin, crocin and treated rats with coadministration of doxorubicin and crocin. In crocin group, crocin injected 30mg/kg for 21 days and each rat in the chemotherapy group was treated once a week for 3 weeks with doxorubicin (5mg/kg). Treatment group, received doxorubicin and crocin at the same time. Sham groups administrated with saline. All drugs were injected intraperitoneally. After these procure passive avoidance memory, balance and exploratory behaviors were assessed respectively by shuttle box, rotarod and open field instruments.
Results: Memory in rats which have consumed doxorubicin significantly was decreased compared to other groups (p<0.001). Crocin treatment improved memory impairment following doxorubicin injection (p<0.001). Motor activity in open field and rotarod tests in treatment group showed significantly increased compared to doxorubicin group (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Crocin consumption beside of anticancer drugs such as doxorubicin has protective effect on the bad effects of chemotherapy drugs on memory and movement.
 

Introduction: Maternal folate supplementation during pregnancy is associated with reduced risk of several fetal neurodevelopmental disorders. However, it is not well known that excess folate intake from diet and supplements can impair neurodevelopment and behavior in offspring. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of chronic and high doses of folic acid before and during pregnancy in female rats on learning and spatial and avoidance memory in male and female offspring.
Methods: 24 female Wistar rats received doses of 0.5, 1, and 2 mg folic acid by intraperitoneal injection two weeks before and during pregnancy. The control group received normal saline. Male and female offspring were divided into 8 groups. Learning behavior and spatial memory were measured by Morris blue maze test, avoidance memory by shuttle box test. The results showed that taking a dose of 2 mg folic acid before and during pregnancy causes spatial learning deficits in male offspring.
Results: While spatial memory is unchanged compared to the control. This dose of folic acid also causes a disturbance in avoidance memory in both male and female offspring.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that high doses of folic acid supplements during early life (fetal) have the potential to impair neurological functions such as memory. Although the severity of this disorder can depend on the gender of the child.