ABSTRACT

Dietary Restriction (DR) otherwise known as Caloric Restriction (CR) has been generally

defined as consumption of nutritious diet that is 30% to 40% less in calories compared to

ad libitum diet while Environmental Enrichment (EE) is defined as a sustained and

progressive increase in cognitive and sensorimotor stimuli with aggregated voluntary

physical activity and complex social interactions. The aim of this experiment was to

investigate the modulatory role of Resveratrol induced CR and EE on neurobehavioural

responses in young healthy mice. Twenty five mice of both sexes were divided into five

groups    of    5    animals    each:     group    I    served    as    the    control    and    received

carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) 50 mg per kg/day orally, group II animals were maintained

on every other day feeding, group III animals received Resveratrol 50 mg/kg, suspended in

10 g/L of (CMC) orally per kg/day. Group IV animals received CMC and kept in an

Enriched Environment while group V animals received Resveratrol 50 mg/kg and kept in

an Enriched Environment. The treatment lasted for the period of four weeks. On day 26,

27 and 28 of the study period, the animals were subjected to neurobehavioural evaluation

of motor coordination, motor strength, learning and memory. Brain and plasma samples

were evaluated for lipid profile, lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzymes. The results

showed significant increase (P < 0.05) in the transfer latency (acquisition) in the every

other day feeding group (69.20 ± 9.03 seconds) compared to the control group (36.80 ±

5.58 seconds). A significant increase (P <0.05) was observed in the concentration of low

density lipoprotein (LDL) in every other day feeding group (1.72 ± 0.12 mg/dl) and

environmental enrichment treatment group (1.73 ± 0.16 mg/dl) when compared to the

control group (1.11 ± 0.07 mg/dl). The results obtained also showed significant decrease (P - 8 -