ISSN (Online): 2455-3662 EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR) - Peer Reviewed Journal Volume: 8| Issue: 4| April 2022|| Journal DOI: 10.36713/epra2013 || SJIF Impact Factor 2022: 8.205 || ISI Value: 1.188 2022 EPRA IJMR | www.eprajournals.com | Journal DOI URL: https://doi.org/10.36713/epra2013 40 ASSESSEMENT OF ANXIETY AND LOCOMOTIVE ACTIVITY USING ELEVATED PLUS MAZE AND OPEN FIELD TESTS IN A KONZO INDUCED RAT MODEL David, L.K. 1 , Ibeachu, P.C. 2 , and Hart, J.S. 3 1,2,3 Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria Corresponding Author: David, L.K, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.36713/epra9789 DOI No: 10.36713/epra9789 ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to assess the anxiety and locomotive activity using elevated plus maze and open field tests in a konzo induced rat model. An experimental research method was used in this study. 20 male Wistar rats were used for this study. The twenty (20) albino Wistar rats were randomly selected into four groups of five rats each. Animal feeding was by oral ingestion. Animals were weighed with an electric weighing scale and the weights were recorded. Animals were closely observed for physical manifestations and clinical signs. Group 1 was the control group and the rats were fed with water and feed, group 2 was fed bitter cassava, group 3 was fed with bitter cassava and complain milk, while group 4 was fed with bitter cassava and bambara nut. The study lasted for 4 weeks and during this period, the weight and neurobehavioral assessment was done using weighing balance for weight determination, elevated plus maze and open field test for neurobehavioral assessment. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS IBM version 23.0) and Microsoft excel 2019 edition. Values were expressed as mean±SD in descriptive statistics. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the difference between the groups followed by least significant difference (LSD) post-hoc test. Confidence interval was set at 95%, and therefore p<0.05 was considered significant. The result shows weekly body weight differences in experimental animals. There was significant weight reduction in the body weight of the Konzo induced group experimental Wistar rats from week 1 to week 4 compared to the significant weight increase observed in the Konzo induced and complan milk fed group Wistar rats. The result from elevated plus maze showed that there was an improvement in anxiety level of Wistar rats fed with complan and bambara nut in terms of the time spent in the sections of the elevated plus maze in week 2 when compared to the week 1. In evaluating the locomotion impairment and anxiety level of wistar rats using Open Field Test, cassava-induced Konzo Wistar rat group, cassava-induced Konzo and complan milk fed group Wistar rats group and cassava-induced Konzo and Bambara nut (Okpa) fed Wistar rats group spent significantly more time in the open field apparatus in week 2 when compared to week 1. The improvement in anxiety and locomotor activity indicates the ameliorative effect of complan milk and Bambara nut (Okpa) and this is due to the protein content of complan milk and bambara nut. Hence a balance diet/protein containing food should be eaten along cassava processed foods. KEY WORDS: Bitter cassava, Konzo, Elevated Plus Maze, Open Field Test, Anxiety, Locomotive Activity INTRODUCTION Konzo is a distinct neurological entity with selective upper motor neuron damage, characterized by an abrupt onset of an irreversible, non-progressive, and symmetrical spastic para/tetraparesis [1]-[8]. The disease is associated with prolonged high dietary cyanogen consumption from insufficiently processed roots of bitter cassava combined with a protein-deficient diet low in sulphur amino acids (SAAs) [1]-[8]. Since its first description by the Italian doctor Trolli eight decades ago in the former Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC]), epidemics have been reported from many cassava-consuming areas in rural Africa. Up to 1993, the total of reported cases was approximately 3,700 to 4,000 [9]- [11]. Konzo remains a health problem in Africa. Since 1993, the disease has extended beyond its first reported boundaries [12], and the reported number of konzo cases has almost doubled,