Comparing the Effects of Rosemary Extract and Treadmill Exercise on the Hippocampal Function and Antioxidant Capacity in Old Rats.

INTRODUCTION: A sequence of time-dependent changes can affect the brain's functional capacity.This study aimed at investigating the effects of Forced Aerobic Exercise (FAE) versus the Rosemary Extract (RE) on the learning abilities and oxidative stress modulation in rats. METHODS: Young and old rats received daily FAE and RE for 3 months. Using the Passive Avoidance (PA) test, we evaluated the learning and memory of the rats by Step-Through Latency (STL) score. We measured the Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx), Catalase (CATA), Malondialdehyde (MDA) enzymes levels, and Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) in the hippocampus. RESULTS: FAE could significantly increase the STL score (P<0.001) among old rats similar to the rosemary extract consumption. The SOD, GPx, and CATA enzyme activities and the level of TAC significantly increased by the treatments (exercise: P<0.001 for SOD and TAC and P<0.05 for CATA, exercise/rosemary: P<0.001 for all enzymes, and rosemary: P<0.01 for SOD and TAC). Furthermore, the MDA level significantly decreased by the treatments (exercise and exercise/rosemary: P<0.001, rosemary: P<0.01). The partial Pearson test revealed the significant positive correlations between the score of STL (day 2) with the SOD (P<0.01) and TAC (P<0.05) levels and negative correlations between the MDA level and STL score in both days (P<0.05 for the first day and P<0.001 for the second day). CONCLUSION: Similar to the rosemary extract, FAE could increase the working memory and antioxidants activity in old rats in 3 months.

Alteration of TRIM33 Expression at Transcriptional and Translational Levels is Correlated with Autism Symptoms.

As a complex neurodevelopmental disorder, autism affects children in three major cognitive domains including social interactions, language learning and repetitive stereotyped behaviors. Abnormal regulation of cell proliferation in the brain during the embryonic period via the TGF-ß signaling pathway and TRIM33 gene that encodes a protein with a corepressor and regulatory role in this pathway has been considered as an etiology for autism. Here, we investigated the association of a variation of TRIM33 with autism symptoms at levels of mRNA and protein expression. We used Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) and Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) as behavioral diagnostic tools. Normal and autistic children were genotyped for a TRIM33 polymorphism (rs11102807), and then expression was assessed at transcriptional and translational levels. Results demonstrated that the frequency of the homozygous A allele (AA genotype of rs11102807) was significantly higher in children with autism (P < 0.001), whereas carriers of the G allele were mostly among healthy individuals. Children homozygous for the rs11102807 A allele were associated with an increase in CARS and ADI-R scores, indicating a significant correlation with autism symptoms. TRIM33 gene expression at both mRNA (P < 0.01) and protein (P < 0.001) levels was significantly higher in controls compared to autistic children. A remarkable association between higher TRIM33 gene expression at the transcriptional level and lower scores for both CARS and ADI-R was observed in non-autistic children. It seems that rs11102807 modulates the function and expression of the TRIM33 gene, implying that the A allele may increase the risk of autism in children by reducing gene expression and altering the TGF-ß signaling pathway.

Oxytocin moderates risky decision-making during the Iowa Gambling Task: A new insight based on the role of oxytocin receptor gene polymorphisms and interventional cognitive study.

The oxytocinergic system influences attentional bias towards emotional cues and feedback-based learning. Considering a tag single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) found through analysis of an intronic haplotype in the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene, we investigated the effect of oxytocin on risky decision-making via the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Young healthy males received intranasal oxytocin or placebo, and the IGT was performed where raw scores, net scores and total time were recorded, and ratio of advantageous to disadvantageous choices was calculated. Using PCR-pyrosequencing, a 761 bp target sequence in the OXTR gene was amplified and sequenced after the extraction of whole blood DNA. Employing Haploview, haplotypes and linkage disequilibrium (LD) pattern among all 14 SNPs in the intronic region were determined based on D' and LOD values, and rs2254295 with the highest LD was indicated as the tag SNP. GTT was shown to have the highest frequency among the found haplotypes. Oxytocin group and participants with the TT genotype demonstrated a significantly increased raw score, net score and advantageous choices, whereas the total time was not influenced remarkably. This means that oxytocin significantly reduced the risk taking in decision-making, and participants with the TT genotype had less premature or risky decisions than those with the CT and CC genotypes. rs2254295 may modulate the function or expression of the OXTR gene, implying that T allele may increase the expression of the OXTR gene compared to C allele. We suggest that oxytocin may remarkably moderate the risk attitude and its consequences during uncertain decision-making.