Efeito do consumo da farinha de palma (Opuntia fícus-indica) sobre o comportamento de ansiedade em ratos idosos.

Abstract

Aging is considered a natural process of life, and the elderly phase is associated with the development of several diseases, such as chronic, neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases. As a result, the elderly population is increasingly becoming aware of the importance of a balanced diet that promotes health and well-being. Unconventional food plants are excellent nutritional and functional sources, such as Opuntia ficus-indica, a plant that has antioxidants in its composition, which act in the fight against free radicals in the body, reducing oxidative and inflammatory processes, thus minimizing anxiety. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of palm flour consumption on anxiety behavior and lipid peroxidation in the brain of elderly rats. For this, the animals were divided into four groups (n=10). Control group (CG) – treated with AIN-93M ration, P5% (group treated with AIN-93M ration, with addition of 5% palm flour); P10% (group treated with the AIN-93M diet, with the addition of 10% palm flour) and P15% (group treated with the AIN-93M diet, with the addition of 15% palm flour). The animals received the feed for four weeks, after which they were submitted to behavioral tests to measure anxiety: open field, elevated plus maze and light-dark box. At the end of the behavioral tests, the animals were euthanized, the brain was removed for determination of lipid peroxidation. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA taking into account the significance level of p<0.05. In relation to the open field, animals P5%, P10% and P15% performed a greater number of rearings and remained longer in the center of the apparatus, in relation to the control group, with P15% being the group that remained longer, in relation to all the experimental animals. groups. Regarding locomotion and grooming, there was no significant difference between the groups. In the elevated plus maze, groups P5%, P10% and P15% remained longer in the open arms compared to the control group, while P15% remained longer in this region and less time in the closed arms compared to the other groups. No significant differences were observed between the groups regarding the length of stay of the animals in the center of the apparatus; P5%, P10% and P15% performed a greater number of head dives. As for the light-dark box, P15% spent more time in the light part, less time in the dark part and performed fewer transitions. P5%, P10% and P15% showed lower concentrations of lipid peroxidation. Our data demonstrated that consumption of palm flour by elderly rats promoted anxiolytic effects and minimized cerebral lipid peroxidation. Given the above, it can be deduced that cactus pear can contribute to the prevention and/or treatment of anxiety.