The effects of pre-treatment with vitamin B6 on memory retrieval in rats

The effects of pre-treatment with vitamin B6 on memory retrieval in adult male Wistar rats were evaluated using a step-through passive avoidance task. The rats were divided into three groups of 10 each. All animals were fed standard rodent chow. Vitamin B6 (50 or 100 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) every other day for 1 month before training was initiated. Three retention tests were performed to assess the memory of the rats. Vitamin B6 (100 mg/kg) significantly increased the step-through latency of the passive avoidance response compared with the control in the first retention test of the passive avoidance paradigm (p < 0.05). In addition, vitamin B6 at 100 mg/kg significantly increased memory retrieval in the second and third retention tests conducted 2 days and 1 week after training, respectively, compared with the control (p < 0.05). These results indicate that pre-treatment with vitamin B6 potentially enhances memory retrieval.