Effect of Bisphenol a on Passive Avoidance Performance in Male Rats

Bisphenol A (BPA) is used to manufacture polycarbonate plastic products in resins lining metal cans, in dental sealants and in blends with other types of plastic products. In sharp contrast, there are many published studies that BPA has a wide range of significant adverse effects including structural and neurochemical changes throughout the brain associated with behavioral changes, such as hyperactivity, learning deficits and increased aggression in both males and females. So the aim of the present study was to investigate effect of BPA on learning and memory in passive avoidance learning model. Thirty six male Sprague Dawley rats weighing 180-260 g were used. The animals were divided into six groups: 1- control group (without any treatment) 2-sham group (received sesame oil the same volume as experimental, n = 6); 3-5 experimental (received BPA 5, 50, 100 and 150 mg kg^-1 day, n = 24). BPA was administrated by oral intake by gavage for 15 days. Learning and memory were performed by shuttle-box. Data was analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric test. The level of significance was considered P<0.05. Our data showed that BPA does not have a significant difference in time spent in light in doses of 5, 50 mg kg^-1 day in learning and memory. BPA with dose of 100 and 150 mg kg^-1 day showed a significant decrease in time spent in light relative to the control and sham in learning and memory. According to our results, BPA impaired learning and avoidance memory with high doses in the passive avoidance learning task.