Melatonin effects on learning and memory of rats submitted to neonatal anoxia

• Grant number: 22/03679-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2022
• End date: October 01, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Cytology and Cell Biology
• Principal Investigator: Silvia Honda Takada
• Grantee: Gabriela Dias Almeida
• Host Institution: Centro de Matemática, Computação e Cognição (CMCC). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/08199-2 - Morphological analysis of the hippocampus of wistar rats submitted to neonatal anoxia and treated with melatonin, BE.EP.IC

Abstract

Neonatal anoxia is a worldwide public health problem, that affects term and preterm newborns. It consists of oxygen privation that results in neurological consequences. Currently, the only known therapy is hypothermia, which is not effective in all cases. Therefore, an experimental model of global and non-invasive neonatal anoxia simulates clinical conditions of preterm newborns to investigate the effects of this condition and the possible complementary and/or alternative therapies. In this model, death was observed in the glial and neuronal populations of the hippocampus, decreased neurogenesis and volume of this region and alterations in the memory and learning of the animals exposed to anoxia. Among the possibilities of treatment, there is melatonin. This study intends to analyze the influence of this treatment on spatial reference memory and learning in Wistar rats submitted to neonatal anoxia.(AU)