Galantamine and Environmental Enrichment Enhance Cognitive Recovery after Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury But Do Not Confer Additional Benefits When Combined.
Environmental enrichment (EE) enhances cognition after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Galantamine (GAL) is an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor that also may promote benefits. Hence, the aims of this study were to assess the efficacy of GAL alone (standard [STD] housing) and in combination with EE in adult male rats after TBI. The hypothesis was that both therapies would confer motor, cognitive, and histological benefits when provided singly, but that their combination would be more efficacious. Anesthetized rats received a controlled cortical impact or sham injury, then were randomly assigned to receive GAL (1, 2, or 3 mg/kg; intraperitoneally [i.p.]) or saline vehicle (VEH; 1 mL/kg; i.p.) beginning 24 h after surgery and once daily for 21 days (experiment 1). Motor (beam-balance/walk) and cognitive (Morris water maze [MWM]) assessments were conducted on post-operative Days 1-5 and 14-19, respectively. Cortical lesion volumes were quantified on Day 21. Sham controls were better versus all TBI groups. No differences in motor function or lesion volumes were observed among the TBI groups (p > 0.05). In contrast, GAL (2 mg/kg) enhanced MWM performance versus VEH and GAL (1 and 3 mg/kg; p < 0.05). In experiment 2, GAL (2 mg/kg) or VEH was combined with EE and the data were compared with the STD-housed groups from experiment 1. EE alone enhanced motor performance over the VEH-treated and GAL-treated (2 mg/kg) STD-housed groups (p < 0.05). Moreover, both EE groups (VEH or GAL) facilitated spatial learning and reduced lesion size versus STD + VEH controls (p < 0.05). No additional benefits were observed with the combination paradigm, which does not support the hypothesis. Overall, the data demonstrate that EE and once daily GAL (2 mg/kg) promote cognitive recovery after TBI. Importantly, the combined therapies did not negatively affect outcome and thus this therapeutic protocol may have clinical utility.
1 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.|2 Safar Center for Resuscitation Research, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Patricia B
PB
de la Tremblaye
1 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.|2 Safar Center for Resuscitation Research, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.|3 Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.|4 Center for Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.|5 Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Corina O
CO
Bondi
1 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.|2 Safar Center for Resuscitation Research, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.|6 Division of Neuroscience, Biomedical Research Center of Michoacán, Mexican Social Security Institute , Morelia, Mexico .
Naima
N
Lajud
1 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.|2 Safar Center for Resuscitation Research, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Jeffrey P
JP
Cheng
1 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.|2 Safar Center for Resuscitation Research, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Hannah L
HL
Radabaugh
1 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.|2 Safar Center for Resuscitation Research, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.|4 Center for Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.|5 Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.|7 Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.|8 Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Anthony E
AE
Kline
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D000070642:Brain Injuries, Traumatic / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004777:Environment; D005702:Galantamine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D000066530:Neurological Rehabilitation / Q000379:methods*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D005702:Galantamine
Morris water maze; acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs); beam-walking; behavior; controlled cortical impact (CCI); functional recovery; galantamine; hippocampus; learning and memory; traumatic brain injury