title: Vasopressin fragment, AVP-(4-8), improves long-term and short-term memory in the hole board search task.
abstract: The hole board search task (HBST) measures long-term and short-term memory, operationally defined as reference memory and working memory. The HBST is an open-field spatial learning test. Previously, we have shown that desglycinamide(Arg8) vasopressin (DGAVP) modulated reference memory, working memory, spatial sequence memory, and learning in the HBST in a dose-dependent manner (Vawter MP, Van Ree JM. Effects of des-glycinamide-sup-9-(arginine-sup-8) vasopressin upon spatial memory in the hole-board search task. Psychobiology 1995; 23: 45-51). To examine the potential active site of the DGAVP molecule, the fragment of the vasopressin amino acid sequence, [pGlu4,Cyt6]AVP-(4-8) (AVP-(4-8)), was administered 1 h prior to training in the HBST. Three groups received either 0, 0.3 microgram, or 1 microgram AVP-(4-8). A repeated measures MANOVA showed the AVP-(4-8) pretreatment factor to be significant (P = 0.048) on the reference memory measure, but not the working memory or learning measures. Interactions between peptide x sessions for reference memory (P = 0.015), working memory (P = 0.003) and learning (P = 0.010) indicated differences in improvement over sessions between placebo- and peptide-treated groups. Post hoc comparisons revealed that the AVP-(4-8) fragment in a dose of 0.3 microgram increased reference memory on the fourth, fifth and sixth acquisition sessions compared with placebo or 1 microgram AVP-(4-8) pretreated groups. Working memory and errors were significantly lowered by 0.3 microgram AVP-(4-8) on the first acquisition session when compared with placebo pretreatment. Thus, AVP-(4-8) improves long-term and short-term memory scores in the HBST, similar to previous results with DGAVP. However, AVP-(4-8) appears twice as potent than DGAVP in improving long-term memory scores in the HBST. The data suggest that the memory modulating property of DGAVP is contained within the amino acid sequence of the AVP-(4-8) peptide.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Rudolf Magnus Institute for Neurosciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Vawter
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Wied
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Van Ree
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006727:Hormone Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000187:drug effects*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D006727:Hormone Antagonists; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin; C072508:argipressin (4-8); C015119:argipressin, des-GlyNH2(9)-