An experimental study of 10 cGy whole brain radiation induced cognitive dysfunction

Abstract

Objective To investigate the relationship between 10 cGy whole brain radiation and cognitive dystunction.Methods Thirty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats at age one month were randomized into irradiation and sham exposed groups.Behavioral and histopathological tests were performed 3 months after irradiation in the order of open field,Morris water maze,passive avoidance,and histopathological test.Comparison between the two groups was conducted using independent samples t-test.Results In the place navigation test of Morris water maze,irradiation group showed significantly longer latency than sham exposed group on day 3 and 4 ( t =2.91 and 2.65,all P ＜ 0.05 ).In the total latency of the place navigation,irradiation group also presented longer latency comparing with sham exposed group ( t =2.63,P ＜ 0.05 ).In the spatial probe test of Morris water maze,the open field test and the passive avoidance test showed no significant difference between the two groups ( t =0.92,0.59,0.83,all P ＞ 0.05 ).The histopathological examination had no significant difference either.Conclusion Whole brain radiation of 10 cGy could partly injury the cognitive function of the rat. Key words: Brain/irradiation; Cognition function; Rat