Additive benefits of environmental enrichment and voluntary exercise on cognition and motor coordination in diabetic mice

Objective: To evaluate the effects of voluntary daily exercise and environmental enrichment on spatial memory and learning as well as motor coordination and learning, in diabetic mice

Setting: College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain

Design: An Experimental Animal Study

Method: BALB/C mice [20 g to 25 g] received 55 mg/kg streptozotocin IP daily for five days. Diabetic mice were randomly assigned to one of the following groups for 12 weeks' duration: [1] social isolation; [2] an environmental enrichment; [3] environmental enrichment and voluntary daily exercise. The fourth group consisted of normal controls. At the end of 12 weeks, the mice were assessed by the Morris Water Maze and the Rotarod for cognitive and motor performance respectively

Result: All diabetic mice showed hyperglycemia. In water maze testing, exercise and environmental enrichment groups showed better learning as evidenced by reductions in time [escape latency] and distance swum to reach a submerged platform compared to diabetic isolated mice. In diabetic mice, exercise itself did not have a significant additional benefit on learning and memory compared to environmental enrichment alone. In rotarod test, motor learning was impaired with isolation but enhanced with environmental enrichment and exercise

Conclusion: Environmental enrichment and exercise confer significant benefits on cognition and motor performance in diabetic mice

Effects of short-term exposure to [Imt, 50 Hz] electromagnetic fields on calcium concentration in different brain regions of mice: the role of calcium channel blocker

To evaluate the effect of short-term exposure to 50 Hz [1 mT] extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields [ELF EMFs] on the Ca[2+] concentration in 4 different regions of the mice brain [cortex, cerebellum, hippocampus and brainstem]. University of Bahrain, Arabian Gulf University. Prospective Randomized Controlled Study. Adult BALB/c male mice were exposed to 50 Hz [1 mT] ELF-EMFs for 2 hours/day for five consecutive days and were treated orally with the calcium channel blocker Amlodipine. Calcium was extracted from the mice brain tissues and the concentration of Ca[2+] was determined using atomic absorption spectroscopy. The effect of ELF EMFs exposure on the Ca[2+] concentrations varied in different regions of the brain, with a significant increase [P<0.05] only in the hippocampus and the brainstem. This increase occurred during short-term exposure to ELF EMFs and the Ca[2+] concentrations started to decrease during the interval of no exposure. The rise in Ca[2+] concentration due to ELF EMFs exposure did not occur in mice treated with the calcium channel blocker Amlodipine. The increase in Ca[2+] concentrations could have involved activation of the voltage-gated calcium channels [VGCCs] by ELF EMFs

Diabetes mellitus: a process of accelerated ageing

Diabetes mellitus [DM] is a very common chronic disease with multiple complications. One of these complications is neuropathy. The neural cells undergo specific defects which resemble very much to the changes seen during the process of ageing. Many experimental results are now indicating that diabetes mellitus accelerates the process of ageing. In this review we describe some of our results that showed the neural defects resulted by the induction of diabetes mellitus in rats. The experimental results include electrophysiological examinations of the hippocampal slices prepared from streptozotocin [STZ]- induced DM and age-matched control rats. Field potential recordings revealed synaptic plasticity defects in the diabetic rats. Intracellular recording of the pyramidal cells in the hippocampus using sharp electrode revealed changes in some of the basic cellular mechanisms. The biochemical studies we did showed defects in N-methyl-D-Aspartate [NMDA] receptor expression in the post synaptic membrane. We performed as well behavioral studies to test the learning and memory in these diabetic animals and compared their performance with the aged-matched control. The interaction of diabetes mellitus and ageing is discussed using the results we obtained from animal experiments and compared them with the results obtained from diabetic patients