S338 P.1.g.
Basic and clinical neuroscience − Cognitive neuroscience
care center (n = 20) and were involved in rehabilitation, such us
ergotherapy, sociotherapy, art therapy. Second group of patients
(n = 20) lived at home, did not work, were not admitted to any
rehabilitation programs or community care institutions.
In the study the functional level of independence was identified
with Functional Independence Measurement scale (FIM) and
everyday abilities and skills examined using activities of daily
living scale (ADL) for persons with mild mental retardation for
both groups. For this study a questionnaire was designed for
social workers who work with a given customers group (n = 70),
to identify their opinions about the day care center’s work efficacy
for people with mild mental retardation.
Summary of results: ADL and FIM for adult clients with mild
mental retardation who attend day care centers, comprehensive
skills and abilities are at a higher level (upper body dressing, social
integration and solving problems, eating and drinking, dressing,
taking care of appearance, communication, movement of vehicles,
cooking, shopping, cleaning and washing, p < 0.001) than in adult
clients with mild mental retardation who do not attend day care
center.
Conclusions: The day care center promotes clients full social
functioning and helps to integrate them into society. Also, day
care centers help to develop, improve and maintain their social
adaptive functioning and abilities and improve the quality of life.
The questionnaire for social workers indicates that day care center
employees and customers are willing to engage in rehabilitation
programs, which help to teach specific skills and abilities, as
well as promote client’s autonomy and independence. Day care
center customers are involved in solving their own social prob-
lems, creating the goals and achieving them, on the other hand,
customers who do not attend daycare centers have disruptions in
communication skills.
References
[1] Daily, D.K., Ardinger, H.H., Holmes, G.E. 2000 Identification and
evaluation of mental retardation. Am Fam Physician 61 (4), 1059–
1067, 1070. PMID 10706158.
[2] Draheim, C.C., Williams, D.P., McCubbin, J.A. 2002 Prevalence of
Physical Inactivity and Recommended Physical Activity in Community-
Based Adults With Mental Retardation. Mental Retardation Vol. 40,
No.6, 436–444.
P.1.g.017 Experimental researches on the effects of
magnesium soft matter vesicles on spatial
learning and memory in rats
L. Tartau1 ° , C.E. Lupusoru1 , E.V. Sindrilar2 , V. Melnig3 .
1 “Gr T Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department
of Pharmacology Algesiology Faculty of Medicine, Iasi, Romania;
2 University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine,
Department of Anatomy, Iasi, Romania; 3 “Al. I. Cuza” University,
Department of Physics − COMB Laboratory Faculty of Physics,
Iasi, Romania
Nanovesicles are of great interest for applications ranging from
drug delivery and controlled release to separations and sensing.
Considerable evidence has accumulated firmly establishing that
magnesium is a critical factor in the brain’s response to metabolic
and physiologic stress. Literature data shows that alterations in
intracellular free magnesium concentration may be an injury factor
in acute and chronic central nervous system (CNS) disturbances,
as well as the potential for magnesium administration to be
neuroprotective under these conditions [1].
Aim: Experimental researches on the effects of magnesium soft
mater vesicles on the cognitive processes in rats.
Method: The soft matter vesicles were made by magnesium
chloride immobilization inside lipid vesicles and their stabilization
with chitosan [2]. The magnesium vesicles were physicochemical
and structural analyzed using Malvern Zetasizer Nano ZS ZEN-
3500 model. The experiment was carried out with white male
Wistar rats (200–250 g) distributed into 3 groups of 7 animals
each, treated orally (using an eso-gastric device) 7 consecutive
daily administration as follows: group I (Control): distilled
water 0.1 ml/10 g weight; group II (Mg): magnesium chlo-
ride 200 mg/kbw; group III (Mg vesicles): magnesium chloride
200 mg/kbw entrapped in soft vesicles. Spatial memory perfor-
mance was evaluated by using a radial arm maze apparatus [3].
The following measures were recorded: the number of entering
an arm containing food, but previously entered (working memory
errors); the number of entering an arm that was not baited (ref-
erence memory errors); time taken to consume all five baits and
the number of arms entered until a repeat entry was made (entries
to repeat). The data were presented as +/− standard deviation
and significance was tested by SPSS Statistics for Windows
version 17.0 and ANOVA method. Experimental protocol was
implemented according to recommendations of the Gr. T. Popa
University Committee for Research and Ethical Issues.
Results: Magnesium entrapped vesicles were found to have a
mean zeta potential of +36.1 mV and a mean size of 129.56 nm. In
our experimental conditions magnesium chloride administration
slightly influenced the data recorded in radial arm maze test
relative to control group. In the behavioral experimental model
used, magnesium entrapped vesicles induced a significant decrease
(p < 0.05) the number of working memory errors (elements rel-
evant for short-time memory quantification) and of average time
taken to consume all five baits (p < 0.05), but did not modify
the number of reference memory errors (for long-time memory
quantification) compared to control group, suggesting the short-
time memory retention enhancement and an improvement of dis-
criminative spatial learning. Magnesium vesicles administration
resulted in a not quite significant increase (p < 0.1) of the number
of entries to repeat compared to control rats.
Conclusions: Our research revealed that magnesium entrapped
in lipid vesicles influenced short-time memory, without affecting
long-time memory of experimented animals. Magnesium soft
matter vesicles administration facilitated spatial working memory,
as measured by improved choice accuracy in the radial arm maze,
when administered 7 consecutive days to rats.
References
[1] Turner, R.J., Vink, R., 2007, Magnesium in the Central Nervous
System, in New Perspectives in Magnesium Research − Nutrition and
Health, Y. Nishizawa, H. Morii, J. Durlach Editors, Springer London
Pub., Part 10, 338–355.
[2] Garlea, A., Popa, M.I., Pohoata, V., Melnig, V., 2007, Ibuprofen/
ketoprofen entrapment in chitosan based vesicle carrier, Rom. J. Bio-
phys, 17, 157–168.
[3] Dubreuil, D., Tixier, C., Dutrieux, G., Edeline, J.M., 2003, Neurobiol-
ogy of learning and Memory, Vol. 79, Issue 1, 109–117.
Disclosure statement: This work was financial supported by the Gr. T. Popa
University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania, Internal Research
Grant Nr. 16407/2009.