Abstract
Background and Objective: Warfarin is widely used in the treatment of stroke and other thromboembolic diseases. The effect of warfarin on memory function is not clear; however, warfarin is a vitamin K inhibitor. This study aimed to test the effect of warfarin on memory function in mice. Materials and Methods: Twenty mice (18-30 g) were divided into control and warfarin-treated groups; each group contained 10 animals. The warfarin-treated group received warfarin dissolved in drinking water at 0.05 mg mL(-1). Animals were treated for 9 days and monitored for mortality. On the day 7 of treatment, the animals were subjected to behavioral tests using the Y-maze, novel object recognition and elevated plus maze tests. Results: In the Y-maze test, warfarin-treated animals showed a slight increase in the number of entries into the novel arm and the time spent there. The time spent exploring the novel object and the transfer latency was increased in the novel object recognition test and the elevated plus maze test, respectively. Conclusion: This study suggested that warfarin treatment affected the memory function of mice. The mechanism of the cognitive loss could involve depletion of vitamin K in the body.