LONGITUDINAL ASSESSMENT OF BEHAVIOR IN A MODEL OF NEPHRECTOMY-INDUCED COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT WITH CONCURRENT SOCIAL ISOLATION

The literature documents cognitive deficits following unilateral nephrectomy. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term behavioral effects of social isolation in this context. Four-month-old male C57BL/6 mice were allocated into two groups: i) sham-operated or ii) unilaterally nephrectomized (right kidney removal). Post-surgery, all mice underwent 30 days of social isolation. All procedures complied with Brazilian and European guidelines and were approved by the Ethical Committee (protocol 7293311023). Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's post-hoc test, with significance set at p < 0.05. We found decreasing in locomotion (p=0.0031, p=0.0342, p=0.0427, after 60, 90, 120 days, n=5), decreasing in the time spent in the center (p=0.0012,p=0.0025,p=0.0002,n=5), increase in the time spent on the periphery (p=0.0012,p=0.0025,p=0.0069,after 60 90, 120 days n=5). In the elevated plus maze, decrease in entries into open arms (p=0.0195,p=0.0137, after 90 and 120 days, n=5), increase in entries into the closed arms (p=0.0208,after 120 days, n=5). With the new object recognition test, we did not find differences in memory consolidation, and also did not find differences in working memory, through the T-maze. We identified initial evidence of increased anxiety-like behavior in nephrectomized mice exposed to social isolation. These findings compel a focused investigation into the biochemical interplay between peripheral and central systems. Supported by FAPESP (2023/15535-9).