Possible role of nitric oxide in the nootropic and antiamnesic effects of neurosteroids on aging- and dizocilpine-induced learning impairment.
The ability of the nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor, NG-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), to modulate the attenuating effects of neurosteroids on the aging- and NMDA receptor antagonist dizocilpine-induced learning impairment, was tested in mice using two different behavioral models of long-term memory. The performance of aged mice (16 months old) in step-down type of passive-avoidance and elevated plus-maze paradigms was significantly impaired compared to that of young mice (3 months old). Neurosteroids pregnenolone sulfate (PS) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), at 1-20 mg/kg, s.c., significantly improved the passive-avoidance and plus-maze performances in aged mice. Neurosteroids PS and DHEAS, at doses 1-20 mg/kg, s.c., significantly attenuated dizocilpine (0.1 mg/kg, i.p.)-induced amnesia, without producing any promnestic effects alone in adult mice. In both cognitive tasks, the effects exhibited by the neurosteroids tested had a bell-shaped curve. Preadministration of L-NAME (10 and 20 mg/kg, i.p.), at doses that did not disrupt cognition alone in either young or aged mice, significantly blocked the beneficial and antiamnesic effects of neurosteroids PS (5 mg/kg) and DHEAS (10 mg/kg). A selective action of L-NAME on the effects of neurosteroids was indicated, since the effects of L-NAME were completely reversed by L-arginine (300 mg/kg, i.p.), a competitive substrate for NO synthase. Neither L-NAME nor L-arginine alone affected the antinociception, locomotor activity or rota-rod performance of young or aged mice. These observations suggest that a NO-dependent mechanism may be involved in the beneficial and antiamnesic effects of neurosteroids PS and DHEAS on the aging- and dizocilpine-induced impairment of learning and memory processes.
Department of Pharmacology, University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160 014, India.
D S
DS
Reddy
S K
SK
Kulkarni
D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D000647:Amnesia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016291:Dizocilpine Maleate / Q000494:pharmacology; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000139:chemically induced*; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester / Q000494:pharmacology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000502:physiology*; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011284:Pregnenolone / Q000494:pharmacology*
D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D018697:Nootropic Agents; C018370:pregnenolone sulfate; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate; D016291:Dizocilpine Maleate; D011284:Pregnenolone; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester