[Changes in emotional state and learning process disorders in rats with experimental hepatic encephalopathy]

Animal models of liver failure are widely used for research of morphological and functional changes and pathogenetic mechanisms of hepatic encephalopathy. Changes in learning process and emotional state of rats, which were administered intraperitoneally (Phenobarbiton 40 mg/kg/day) for five days and then subcutaneously (Acetaminophen 1000 mg/kg) are described. Behaviour of rats was studied in the "open field". Experimental animals in comparison with the control group had decreased position-finding-exploring activity although the motor activity and the fear feeling level weren't changed. The testing in the multi branch maze showed that the experimental animal's learning ability was greatly decreased--from the start platform of the maze to the nest they made more mistakes and spent more time than the control group animals, and even at the end of the maze session successful completion of task (to reach the nest) wasn't exceeding 60%.