Efeitos da suplementação com disseleneto de difenila e do exercício físico de natação na memória de ratos wistar velhos

Abstract

Aging occurs at all cellular levels of the body, being defined as a degenerative, progressive and irreversible process. An important feature of the aging process is the gradual loss of memory. Given the scarcity of effective therapeutic measures for memory deficit in aging, an important trend of scientific research is the search for new compounds with neuroprotective properties. One such compound is diphenyl diselenide, (PhSe)2, an organic compound of selenium which has demonstrated various pharmacological properties. In addition, behavioral studies in animals indicate that physical exercise is beneficial for memory and learning. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the association of the supplementation of (PhSe)2 (1 ppm in the ration, during 1 month) and the aerobic physical exercise of swimming (20 minutes per day, 5 days per week, during 5 weeks, being The last 4, with an overload of 3% of body weight) on short and long term memory tests, spatial memory and neurotrophic proteins responsible for memory modulation and synaptic transmission in old Wistar rats. The results presented in the first study demonstrated that both the compound (PhSe)2 and the swimming exercise and the association of the two have effects in preventing the cognitive decline caused by aging and increasing the levels of phosphorylated CREB; however, the exercise group did not Improved long-term memory, but was effective in improving spatial memory and enhancing Akt phosphorylation. Factors involved in neuroprotection, proliferation, differentiation, cell survival and synaptic plasticity such as mBDNF, PKc, ERK investigated in manuscript 1 in this thesis were increased in hippocampus from old rats by exercise, and by supplementation with (PhSe)2 plus swimming exercise. Supplementation alone did not increase ERK levels. The combination of (PhSe)2 supplementation and swimming exercise was effective in reducing hippocampal apoptosis of old rats, ascertained by analyzing the levels of cleaved caspase 3 and cleaved PARP. Reinforcing the antiapoptotic effect of (PhSe)2 and swimming exercise, Bcl2 and NeuN levels were increased. These results demonstrate the beneficial effects of (PhSe)2 supplementation and swimming exercise on modifications caused by aging.