Effect of pristine fullerene on acquisition, consolidation and retrieval memory in wistar rats

The present study evaluated the effect of fullerene (C₆₀) under in vitro conditions, in hippocampus homogenates from rats and on the induction of behavioral disabilities. Exposure to in vitro C₆₀ led to an increase in the concentration of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid peroxidation (LPO) of hippocampus treated with of fullerene and suspension. These results indicate that the oxidative stress caused by the exposure to C₆₀ was in part related to an absence of an antioxidant response. In this sense, one-trial inhibitory avoidance task were performed and results showed that fullerene at 0.2 and 0.45 μm impaired the acquisition and consolidation of short and long-term memory. Further, enzymatic analysis in rat hippocampus were not significantly different, however, there was an increase in the content of LPO and ROS produced by fullerene. Overall, the results indicates that fullerene possess neurotoxic properties that impairs behavior and promotes oxidative stress.