1Neurochemistry
and Biochemical Neuropharmacology Research Unit, Department of
Biochemistry, University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan; 2Department
of Biomedical Engineering, Sir Syed University of Engineering and
Technology, Karachi-75300, Pakistan; 3Department of
Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Agha Khan University, Karachi,
Pakistan; 4Department of Biochemistry, Federal Urdu
University, Karachi, Pakistan
*Corresponding author: xehra_batool@yahoo.com
Abstract
Post-exposing the rats to enriched environment
has shown to attenuate the psycho-neurological and behavioral deficits produced
as a result of chronic stress in rats. But here we studied the possibility
whether the pre-exposure of enriched environment might affect the behavioral
deficits produced as a post-treatment to chronic restraint stress. Behavioral
parameters, associated with chronic stress such as depression, anxiety and
memory were monitored before and after stress treatment, in socially enriched
and socially non-enriched conditions. According to the results the rats that
were pre-exposed to socially enriched conditions indicated an anti-depressive
and anxiolytic activity after repeated stress procedure as compared to the rats
of socially non-enriched environment. Furthermore, improvement and retention of
short term and long term memory was observed in enriched rats before and after
restraint stress procedure. This study can be related to the beneficial role of
earlier exposure to enriched environment that may affect the behaviors related
to response of brain to stress stimuli and prevention of behavioral deficits
that may lead to various psychological abnormalities that are related to
prolonged stress exposures.