EFFECTS OF INTERMITTENT FASTING ON PHYSICAL, BIOCHEMICAL AND COGNITIVE PARAMETERS IN A D-GALACTOSE-INDUCED AGING MODEL IN RAT

FERRAMOLA, MARIANA LUCILA; PONCE, IVANA TAMARA; PÉREZ, CAMILA MARIEL; GODOY, MARÍA DEL PILAR; FERNÁNDEZ, GUSTAVO; ANZULOVICH, ANA CECILIA; LACOSTE, MARÍA GABRIELA

Mendoza

Congreso; XL Reunión Científica Anual de la Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo; 2022

Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo

Aging is a multifactorial process that leads to the gradual deterioration of physical and mental abilities. Currently, there are no pharmacological treatments that modify the course of aging, so it is of great interest to find interventions that can delay and/or reduce the deleterious effects of this process. Due to the relationship between dietary intake and health throughout life, different nutritional interventions are being considered as possible anti-aging strategies. Intermittent fasting (IF) is a dietary intervention that alternates periods of feeding and prolonged fasting. Our objective was to investigate the effect of IF as a preventive strategy for cognitive dysfunctions associated with the aging process. Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups receiving daily: 1) physiological saline solution (CTL) via intraperitoneal injection (IP), 2) D-galactose 150 mg/kg (DGAL) via IP and, 3) D-galactose 150 mg/kg via IP + IF protocol (DGAL+IF) for a period of eight weeks. The IF protocol consisted in the access to food ad libitum for 24 hours that was alternated with 24 hours without food. We evaluated the physical aspect of the animals, biochemical parameters in serum and cognitive tests such as the Barnes Maze (BM) and the Novel Object Recognition (NOR). At the end of the treatment, we observed that the DGAL group presented a yellowish and opaque hair with darker regions. This was in contrast with the DGAL+IF rats, which presented whiter and brighter hair, similar to the CTL group. Although there were no significant differences in body weight between CTL and DGAL animals at the end of treatment, weight gain in DGAL was greater (p