Impact of Formaldehyde Upon Anxiety and Cognitive Behavior in Wistar Rats Following Curcumin Administration

Abstract

Formaldehyde is a colorless and flammable gas that is created and evaporated at room temperature and often commercialized in a liquid form commonly called formalin. Formaldehyde has been known as an air pollutant that accumulates in the human body. Through the present research, we analyzed the effects of formaldehyde on the anxiety and cognitive abilities of WISTAR rats on the one hand. On the other hand, we have proven the restorative effect of an antioxidant, curcumin, which has the role of regulating the complications induced by the administration of the toxic product. A total of twenty-five white rats of Wistar strains (250 ± 50 grams) were separated into 5 experimental batches: control batch (T) [n = 5], vehicle control batch (CV) [n = 5], control curcumin batch (CC) [n = 5], one batch formaldehyde vehicle (FV) [n = 5] and one batch formaldehyde curcumin (FC) [n = 5]. Diluted formaldehyde was administered by a single intraperitoneal injection at a dose of 10 mg/kg, while Curcuma longa L.turmeric dissolved in olive oil was administered by gastric tube feeding at a dose of (60 mg/kg). Our results showed that formaldehyde resulted in a disturbance in the weight and behavior of rats and also revealed the therapeutic benefits of curcumin. This experiment made it possible to appreciate the effects of formaldehyde gas on the variation in body weight, the degree of anxiety, and the ability to evaluate working memory using the open field test, as well as, that of recognition of ‘object.