Author(s)

Mouloud Lamtai¹, Jihane Chaibat¹, Sihame Ouakki¹, Inssaf Berkiks¹, El-Housseine Rifi², Aboubaker El Hessni¹, Abdelhalem Mesfioui¹, Ali Tadlaoui Hbibi^1,3, Hassna Ahyayauch^1,3, Azzouz Essamri⁴, Ali Ouichou¹

¹Unit of Nervous and Endocrine Physiology, Laboratory of Genetics, Neuroendocrinology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, University Ibn Tofail, Kenitra, Morocco.
²Laboratory of Synthesis Organic and Extraction Processes, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University Ibn Tofail, Kenitra, Morocco.
³Institut Supérieur des Professions Infirmières et Techniques de Santé (ISPISTS) route Casablanca, Rabat, Morocco.
⁴Laboratory of Agro-Resources and Process Engineering, Faculty of Science, University Ibn Tofail, Kenitra, Morocco.

The main objective of this work is to study the effect of chronic administration of cadmium (Cd) on the level of depression-like, anxiety-like, memory state and oxidative stress in male and female Wistar rats. For this purpose, this study was conducted with 24 rats for each gender. Four groups were constituted: (Group 1: Control): received saline solution NaCl (0.9%), (Group 2: Cd-0.25; Group 3: Cd-0.5; Group 4: Cd-1): received daily 0.25 mg/kg, 0.5 mg/kg and 1 mg/kg of Cd respectively during 8 weeks. After treatment period, animals were tested in the open-field, elevated plus maze tests for anxiety-like behavior, and forced swimming test for depression-like behavior. The Y maze was used to evaluate the working memory and the Morris Water Maze, to evaluate space learning and spatial memory. The results revealed that in males, all doses of Cd provoke depression-like, while in females only the group treated with 1 mg/kg Cd shows elevated depression-like behavior. In regard to anxiety-like behavior, Cd induces an anxiogenic effect in both genders tests. In the Y-Maze test, both males and females expressed a low percentage of alternations, suggesting that working memory was affected by Cd at 1 mg/kg. In the Morris Water Maze test, the space learning and spatial memory were significantly impaired in the group Cd-1. Neurochemical analysis showed that levels of nitric oxide and lipid peroxidation in the hippocampus were significantly increased after Cd treatments. Overall analysis of our data revealed that Cd caused significant alterations in the examined parameters that were sex-dependent and dose-dependent.

Cadmium, Depression-Like, Anxiety-Like, Memory, Oxidative Stress

Lamtai, M. , Chaibat, J. , Ouakki, S. , Berkiks, I. , Rifi, E. , El Hessni, A. , Mesfioui, A. , Tadlaoui Hbibi, A. , Ahyayauch, H. , Essamri, A. and Ouichou, A. (2018) Effect of Chronic Administration of Cadmium on Anxiety-Like, Depression-Like and Memory Deficits in Male and Female Rats: Possible Involvement of Oxidative Stress Mechanism. Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science, 8, 240-268. doi: 10.4236/jbbs.2018.85016.