Nitric oxide donor molsidomine attenuates psychotomimetic effects of the NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801
✍ Scribed by Nikolaos Pitsikas; Styliani Zisopoulou; Nikolaos Sakellaridis
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2006
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 127 KB
- Volume
- 84
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0360-4012
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
There is experimental evidence indicating that the noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801 impairs cognition and produces a series of schizophrenia-like symptoms in rodents (hypermotility, stereotypies, and ataxia). The present study was designed to investigate the efficacy of the nitric oxide (NO) donor molsidomine in counteracting these MK-801-induced behavioral effects in the rat. In a first study, post-training administration of molsidomine (at 4 but not 2 mg/kg) successfully antagonized MK-801-induced performance deficits in a recognition memory test. In a subsequent study, molsidomine (2 and 4 mg/kg) was shown to be unable to reverse MK-801-induced hypermotility but attenuated stereotypies (continuous movement whole cage, body sway, and head weaving) produced by MK-801. Moreover, at 4 mg/kg this NO donor counteracted MK-801-induced ataxia. Our findings indicate that molsidomine attenuates behavioral effects related to the hypofunction of the NMDA receptor suggesting that NO might be involved in the psychotomimetic effects of non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonists. V