The research of electroconvulsive therapy effect on cognitive function in rats with depressive-like disorder formed by ultrasound

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is effective method of resistant depression treatment. ECT activates neurotransmitter systems, increases neurotrophic factors production, induces neurogenesis. Nevertheless, ECT side effects, expressed as temporary amnesia, limit its application in clinical practice. The objective of our work was to estimate rat's memory after ECT in the behavioral test: “Object recognition”, “Morris water-maze”. The aim of the work was to research the effect of ECT on cognitive function in rats with depressive-like disorder and in normal rats. Methods The research was conducted with Sprague-Dawley rats ( n  = 41, 2 month age). Experimental stages: – control group ( n  = 10) compared to control + ECT group ([70 mA, 50 Hz, 500 μsec; 10 days] n  = 10); – control group ( n  = 9) compared to group with depressive-like disorder, formed by ultrasound ([20–45 kHz; 21days] US, n  = 6) and group with depressive-like disorder received ECT ( n  = 6). Memory was estimated in the “Object recognition” and “Morris water-maze” tests. Results (1) ECT did not decrease cognitive function in the “Object recognition” test in normal rats ( P  = 0.1217). Also, it did not lead to cognitive impairments in the “Morris water-maze” test: time of platform searching did not differ significantly from the control group ( P  = 0.8573). (2) ECT produced recovering effect on memory impairments of the US group in the “Object recognition” test ( P  = 0.0066). In the “Morris water-maze” ECT decreased time of platform searching by 7 times compared to the US group ( P  = 0.0025). That demonstrates the absence of ECT negative effect on rat's memory. Conclusion ECT does not produce negative effect on cognitive function in rats with depressive-like disorder and even recovers memory impairments.