Authors : Saeid Sobhanirad , Reza Valizadeh , Ali Moghimi and Abdolmansoor Tahmasebi
Abstract: In an experiment the emotional and exploratory behaviors of Wistar rats to dietary zinc supplementation from zinc sulfate monohydrate (ZnS), Zinc oxide (ZnO) and zinc Methionine (ZnM) were studied in an open field test. One hundred-twenty rats were assigned to 10 dietary treatments including: Basal Diet (BD) + 50 mg kg-1 ZnS, BD + 100 mg kg-1 ZnS, BD + 200 mg kg-1 ZnS, BD + 50 mg kg-1 ZnO, BD + 100 mg kg-1 ZnO, BD + 200 mg kg-1 ZnO, BD + 50 mg kg-1 ZnM, BD + 100 mg kg-1 ZnM, BD + 200 mg kg-1 ZnM and Basal diet (without Zn supplementation). These parameters including rearing, number of peripheral squares crossing, number of central squares crossing, hole exploration and defecation were recorded for 5 min. The treatments differed significantly in case of hole exploration and defecation. The results of these experiments indicated that high level of zinc methionine (200 mg kg-1) increased exploratory activity and locomotor activity. The results of this experiment indicated that high level of zinc methionine (200 mg kg-1) reduced exploratory activity and anxiety-like behavior. Further studies are needed to identify the anxiolytic mechanism and the optimum level of Zn supplementation.
Saeid Sobhanirad , Reza Valizadeh , Ali Moghimi and Abdolmansoor Tahmasebi , 2008. Assessment of Changes in Anxiety and Exploratory Behaviors Following Zinc Supplementation in Rats. Research Journal of Biological Sciences, 3: 1415-1418.