Neurobehavioural Studies on the Effects of Calcium Carbide on the Hippocampus of Adult Wistar Rats

The aim of this study is to investigate the neurobehavioural changes on the effects of calcium carbide on the hippocampus of adult wistar rats. Calcium carbide (CaC2) is a chemical compound used for a variety of industrial purposes especially in the production of acetylene gas. Itcontains impurities such as calcium phosphate and arsenate which when comes in contact with moisture produces phosphine and arsine both of which are toxic. Sixsty Wistar rats were grouped into 4 groups of 15 animals each. Group 1 were fed with standard rat chow and water. Group 2 were fed with standard rat chow, water and 2ml of naturally ripened banana juice. Group 3 was given 2ml of calcium carbide ripened banana juice orally and fed with standard rat chow and water. Group 4 were given 2ml of the calcium carbide treated banana and 200mg/kg body weight of vit C and fed with standard rat chow on daily basis. The rats in each group were subjected to the passive avoidance test, barnes maze test and Y-maze test which all are tools to test for memory and learning deficit in rodents. Statistical analysis was done using one-way Analysis of Variance. Results were compared using Post-Hoc test and considered significant at p<0.05. Passive avoidance test revealed that the rats showed impaired avoidance ability in the calcium carbide ripened banana group. Barnes maze study demonstrated that the rats showed impaired visual memory and cognition in the carbide treated group. In Y-maze test, the calcium carbide banana group showed decrease in the exploratory ability of the rats hence an impairment in working spatial memory. Calcium carbide causes impaired learning and memory ability in rats.

Key Words: Calcium carbide, passive avoidance test, barnes test, y-maze test, banana, learning and memory