Motor learning impairment in rats under a high sucrose diet.

Motor learning skills are reliable indicators of behavioral acquisition and cognitive disorders. The ease with which learning skills are measured disparities the complexity of the interpretation concerning neural plasticity. Conversely, a wealth of information regarding metabolic derangements has long been reported with direct connection to high sucrose diets. However, the impact of excessive sucrose consumption on undergoing cognitive processes has been only scarcely addressed up to now. Therefore, the goal of this work was to describe the associative relationship between high sucrose consumption and changes in motor learning skills acquisition. Motor learning impairments conditioned by central alterations are hypothesized. Rotarod, elevated plus-maze and open field trials, along with metabolic and pro-inflammatory biomarkers tests in Wistar rats under a high sucrose treatment, were performed. Motor learning impairment in high sucrose diet-treated rats was found while spontaneous locomotor activity remained unchanged. Even though, no anxiety-like behavior under high sucrose diet-treatment was observed. Consistently, the worst outcome in the glucose tolerance test was developed, the worst motor learning performance was observed. Furthermore, insulin resistance correlated positively with a pro-inflammatory state and a decreased latency to fall in the rotarod test. Indeed, C-reactive protein and tumor necrosis factor-α serum levels, along with the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), significantly increased in motor learning impairment. Together, these results support behavioral, metabolic and pro-inflammatory changes associated with deleterious changes in central nervous system likely involving crucial motor learning structures. Underlying pro-inflammatory-triggered processes may explain cognitive disorders in advanced states of metabolic derangements.

Resistive Part of Impedance as a Possible Indicator of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: In this work, the multi-frequency impedance both in normal and liver cancer tissues was studied. This was to investigate the feasibility to detect liver cancer by a low cost, easy to use, and a relatively non-invasive electrical impedance measure technique, and thus potentially improving liver cancer diagnosis. METHODS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was induced in male Wistar rats by the administration of diethylnitrosamine (DEN) during 16 weeks. The electrical impedances at a frequency sweep of 10-100 KHz in the whole body and 10-60 KHz in the liver were taken at the end of the treatment. RESULTS: The electrical impedance showed that the real component values of the impedance change in HCC. In addition, we found that the imaginary component was not associated with HCC. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the electrical impedance may be used as a diagnostic HCC tool.