Environmental enrichment exposure restrains the neuronal damage induced by diabetes and stress in the motor cortex of rat brain.

OBJECTIVE The present study was intended to assess the effect of environmental enrichment on the diabetes as well as combined actions of diabetes and stress on the neurons of the motor cortex of rat brain. BACKGROUND Untreated diabetes mellitus causes severe insults to the neurons of the central nervous system. Treatment with environmental enrichment is known for producing significant and reliable neuronal changes in the neurological disorders of central nervous system. MATERIALS AND METHODS Male albino rats of Wistar strain, aged 35 days were used. The rats were divided into (A) Normal Control (B) Vehicle Control (C) Diabetic (D) Diabetes+Stress (E)Diabetes+Environmental enrichment (F)Diabetes+Stress+Environmental enrichment (n=6) in each group). Blood glucose levels and body weight was measured before the induction of diabetes, on the 2nd day after induction of diabetes and before sacrifice. After exposure to stress and environmental enrichment diabetic rats were sacrificed (Day 30) and brains were processed for cresyl violet staining. The number of survived neurons in the motor cortex was quantified. RESULTS Quantification of cresyl violet neurons in the motor cortex showed a significant increase in the number of survived neurons in Diabetes+Environmental enrichment and Diabetes+Stress+Environmental enrichment group rats compared to Diabetes and Diabetes+Stress group rats respectively. CONCLUSION Findings from the present study indicated that the exposure to environmental enrichment can prevent the amount of the neural damage caused by complications of diabetes and combined actions of diabetes and stress to the neurons of the motor cortex (Fig. 5, Ref. 37).