Ovariectomy impairs spatial memory: prevention and reversal by a soy isoflavone diet

Since a previous study has shown that ovariectomy impairs spatial memory, we, herein, investigate the influence of pre- and post-treatment with a soy diet on the effects elicited by ovariectomy on spatial memory. In the pre-treatment, 20-day-old female Wistar rats were first fed for 60 days on a standard diet with casein (control) or a soy diet. At 80 days of age, the animals were assigned to one of the following groups: sham (submitted to surgery without removal of ovaries) and ovariectomized. One week after surgery, the rats were submitted to behavioral testing. In the post-treatment, 80-day-old female rats were assigned to one of the following groups: sham and ovariectomized. One week after surgery, animals were fed for 30 days with the same diet described above. Then, rats were submitted to water maze testing. Pre-treatment for two months before ovariectomy with the soy diet effectively prevented the increase in latency in finding the platform on the fifth day of training in the ovariectomized group. Ovariectomized rats subjected to soy diet post-treatment reversed the increase in latency to find the platform in the ovariectomized group on the fifth day of training and, the decrease in the time spent in target quadrant, the increase in the time spent in opposite quadrant and the latency to cross the platform location. Results show that both pre- and post-treatment protected against the impairment of memory, caused by ovariectomy. Post-treatment reversed various parameters of memory reference, indicating that post-treatment was more efficient than pre-treatment. Based on these findings, we suggest that soy diet (rich in isoflavones) may represent a novel therapeutic strategy to prevent or to treat cognitive symptoms found in some menopausal women.