Efficacy of antidotal treatment against sarin poisoning: the superiority of benactyzine and caramiphen

Sarin, a potent cholinesterase inhibitor, induces an array of toxic effects including convulsions and behavioral impairments. We report here on the protection provided by post-exposure antidotal treatments against a lethal dose of sarin (1.2xLD50) by scopolamine, benactyzine, trihexyphenidyl or caramiphen, administered 5, 10 or 20 min after the initiation of convulsions. A mixture of the oxime TMB4 and atropine (TA) was injected 1 min following poisoning a paradigm that may represent a scenario reminiscent of a terror incident. Surviving TA-treated rats exhibited marked tonic-clonic convulsions, weight loss, poor clinical status and abnormal cognitive performance as assessed by the Morris water maze. Additionally, a dramatic increase in the density of peripheral benzodiazepine receptors (PBRs), a faithful marker for neuronal damage, was noted. Animals treated 5 min after the development of toxic signs with benactyzine, trihexyphenidyl or caramiphen demonstrated control levels of PBR values, whereas scopolamine produced binding densities significantly above basal levels. Examined at the 10-min time point, scopolamine and trihexyphenidyl afforded no protection against brain damage and did not differ from TA-injected rats. All four drugs failed to significantly prevent the alterations when applied 20 min after onset of convulsions. Assessment of learning processes yielded similar results, where caramiphen exibited some protection at the 20-min time point. Our results show that caramiphen and benactyzine, agents with combined anticholinergic and antiglutamatergic pharmacological profiles, offer considerable shielding against sarin, even when their administration is delayed.     

Aerosolized scopolamine protects against microinstillation inhalation toxicity to sarin in guinea pigs

Sarin is a volatile nerve agent that has been used in the Tokyo subway attack. Inhalation is predicted to be the major route of exposure if sarin is used in war or terrorism. Currently available treatments are limited for effective postexposure protection against sarin under mass casualty scenario. Nasal drug delivery is a potential treatment option for mass casualty under field conditions. We evaluated the efficacy of endotracheal administration of muscarinic antagonist scopolamine, a secretion blocker which effectively crosses the blood-brain barrier for protection against sarin inhalation toxicity. Age and weight matched male Hartley guinea pigs were exposed to 677.4 mg/m3 or 846.5?mg/?m3 (1.2?×?LCt??) sarin by microinstillation inhalation exposure for 4?min. One minute later, the animals exposed to 846.5?mg/?m3 sarin were treated with endotracheally aerosolized scopolamine (0.25?mg/kg) and allowed to recover for 24?h for efficacy evaluation. The results showed that treatment with scopolamine increased the survival rate from 20% to 100% observed in untreated sarin-exposed animals. Behavioral symptoms of nerve agent toxicity including, convulsions and muscular tremors were reduced in sarin-exposed animals treated with scopolamine. Sarin-induced body weight loss, decreased blood O? saturation and pulse rate were returned to basal levels in scopolamine-treated animals. Increased bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cell death due to sarin exposure was returned to normal levels after treatment with scopolamine. Taken together, these data indicate that postexposure treatment with aerosolized scopolamine prevents respiratory toxicity and protects against lethal inhalation exposure to sarin in guinea pigs.     

Aerosolized scopolamine protects against microinstillation inhalation toxicity to sarin in guinea pigs

Sarin is a volatile nerve agent that has been used in the Tokyo subway attack. Inhalation is predicted to be the major route of exposure if sarin is used in war or terrorism. Currently available treatments are limited for effective postexposure protection against sarin under mass casualty scenario. Nasal drug delivery is a potential treatment option for mass casualty under field conditions. We evaluated the efficacy of endotracheal administration of muscarinic antagonist scopolamine, a secretion blocker which effectively crosses the blood-brain barrier for protection against sarin inhalation toxicity. Age and weight matched male Hartley guinea pigs were exposed to 677.4?mg/m³ or 846.5?mg/?m³ (1.2?×?LCt₅₀) sarin by microinstillation inhalation exposure for 4?min. One minute later, the animals exposed to 846.5?mg/?m³ sarin were treated with endotracheally aerosolized scopolamine (0.25?mg/kg) and allowed to recover for 24?h for efficacy evaluation. The results showed that treatment with scopolamine increased the survival rate from 20% to 100% observed in untreated sarin-exposed animals. Behavioral symptoms of nerve agent toxicity including, convulsions and muscular tremors were reduced in sarin-exposed animals treated with scopolamine. Sarin-induced body weight loss, decreased blood O₂ saturation and pulse rate were returned to basal levels in scopolamine-treated animals. Increased bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cell death due to sarin exposure was returned to normal levels after treatment with scopolamine. Taken together, these data indicate that postexposure treatment with aerosolized scopolamine prevents respiratory toxicity and protects against lethal inhalation exposure to sarin in guinea pigs.     

Learning and memory in the forced swimming test: effects of antidepressants having varying degrees of anticholinergic activity

The antidepressant-induced reduction in immobility time in the forced swimming test may depend on memory impairment due to the drug’s anticholinergic efficacy. Therefore, the present study evaluated learning and memory of the immobility response in rats after the pretest and test administrations of antidepressants having potent, comparatively lower, and no anticholinergic activities. Immobility was measured in the test session performed 24 h after the pretest session. Scopolamine and MK-801, which are agents that have memory impairing effects, were used as reference drugs for a better evaluation of the memory processes in the test. The pretest administrations of imipramine (15 and 30 mg/kg), amitriptyline (7.5 and 15 mg/kg), trazodone (10 mg/kg), fluoxetine (10 and 20 mg/kg), and moclobemide (10 and 20 mg/kg) were ineffective, whereas the pretest administrations of scopolamine (0.5 mg/kg) and MK-801 (0.1 mg/kg) decreased immobility time suggesting impaired “learning to be immobile” in the animals. The test administrations of imipramine (30 mg/kg), amitriptyline (15 mg/kg), moclobemide (10 mg/kg), scopolamine (0.5 and 1 mg/kg), and MK-801 (0.1 mg/kg) decreased immobility time, which suggested that the drugs exerted antidepressant activity or the animals did not recall that attempting to escape was futile. The test administrations of trazodone (10 mg/kg) and fluoxetine (10 and 20 mg/kg) produced no effect on immobility time. Even though the false-negative and positive responses made it somewhat difficult to interpret the findings, this study demonstrated that when given before the pretest antidepressants with or without anticholinergic activity seemed to be devoid of impairing the learning process in the test.     

Long-term behavioral and learning abnormalities produced by the irreversible cholinesterase inhibitor soman: effect of a standard pretreatment regimen and clonidine

Previous studies in this laboratory have demonstrated that the alpha 2-adrenergic agonist clonidine and related drugs can offer significant protection against both the acute and chronic toxicity to soman administration in rats and mice. The purpose of this study was to determine whether addition of clonidine to a standard pretreatment protective regimen against soman toxicity could offer added protection or benefit. The standard regimen employed was a mixture of physostigmine salicylate (150 micrograms/kg) and artane (trihexyphenidyl hydrochloride 2 mg/kg). Rats were randomly assigned to one of 4 experimental groups: (1) those receiving i.m. sterile saline injection followed 30 min later by s.c. saline injection (normal controls); (2) saline, i.m. followed 30 min later by one of several doses (60-110 micrograms/kg of soman, s.c.; (3) saline, i.m., followed 10 min later by the standard pretreatment regimen i.m., followed by one of several doses of soman (160-300 micrograms/kg), s.c.; and (4) clonidine hydrochloride (1 mg/kg) i.m., followed 10 min later by the pretreatment regimen, followed 30 min later by soman. All animals were examined acutely and survivors were examined over a 3-week period following soman administration. The following observations were made: (1) Addition of clonidine to the standard pretreatment regimen did not enhance survival rate over the standard regimen alone (unless the clonidine was administered after the regimen). (2) Of the acutely toxic behavioral signs promoted by soman, clonidine addition to the standard regimen was of benefit only in reducing soman-induced tremor. (3) Addition of clonidine to the standard regimen appeared to hasten the return to normal motor behavior after soman; however, all groups exhibited normal motor behavior in 9 days. (4) Despite apparent normal motor behavior, soman-treated animals exhibited a marked performance deficit in the passive avoidance parameter 3 weeks after injection. The standard regimen partially preserved this effect; addition of clonidine to the standard regimen completely reversed the effect. These results indicate that clonidine provides a measure of protection against chronic behavioral deficits caused by soman intoxication.     

Protection against soman-induced seizures in rats: relationship among doses of prophylactics, soman, and adjuncts

The combined effects of physostigmine and procyclidine (antagonizing muscarinic, nicotinic, and NMDA receptors) were tested against various doses of soman. Physostigmine (0.1 mg/kg) in combination with procyclidine doses of 1, 3, or 6 mg/kg effectively prevented the development of convulsions and hippocampally monitored seizures when the doses of soman were 1.3, 1.6, or 2 × LD50, respectively. Results from [³H]MK-801-binding experiments showed that procyclidine inhibits the phencyclidine site at the NMDA receptor in a concentration-dependent manner. Physostigmine (0.1 mg/kg) and procyclidine in a dose of 1 mg/kg did not prevent convulsions or seizures when the soman dose was 1.6 × LD50. Subsequent treatment with scopolamine in doses of 0.5 or 1 mg/kg immediately after (3 min) seizure onset showed that only the highest dose produced a reliable termination. When scopolamine (1 mg/kg) was given later (10 min) after onset of seizures, no effect was obtained. The sustained seizures were subsequently treated with diazepam (10 mg/kg) and pentobarbital (30 mg/kg) and finally terminated 25 min after onset. In rats given inadequate prophylaxis, both modified convulsions and seizures were seen. It is suggested that moderate doses of prophylactics should be preferred to avoid adverse effects on cognitive functions because insufficient prophylaxis can be compensated for by adjunct treatment.     

Effects of subacute pretreatment with carbamate together with acute adjunct pretreatment against nerve agent exposure

Visual observations were made to compare the pretreatment benefits of subacute (75 micrograms/hr, sc) and acute (146 micrograms/kg, im, at 30 min) deliveries of physostigmine salicylate (Phy) against 2 or 5 LD50s (60 or 150 micrograms/kg, sc) of soman in guinea pigs; scopolamine, 80 micrograms/kg, im, was given routinely at 30 min. In a second set of studies, pretreatment with subacute carbamate [sc, Phy 36 micrograms/hr or pyridostigmine (Pyr), 50 micrograms/hr] and acute adjunct (im, scopolamine, 0.48 mg/kg, or trihexyphenidyl, 2 mg/kg) at 30 min, was used against soman (5 LD50s, sc) and VX (18.4 micrograms/kg, sc; 2 LD50s); atropine (16 mg/kg, im) and 2-PAM (25 mg/kg, im) were given at 1 min post soman. In all studies, lethality, % convulsing, convulsive/subconvulsive score, and recovery time were noted. Subacute dosing for 7 days was done via 14-day osmotic minipumps (OMPs). Results of the first set of studies indicate that subacute and acute deliveries of Phy give essentially comparable protection against 2 or 5 LD50s of soman. The second set of studies show that against soman, the adjuncts scopolamine and trihexyphenidyl when compared, and the carbamates, Phy and Pyr when compared, gave similar protective benefits as indicated by all four monitored measures of toxicity. Phy with either adjunct provided excellent protection against VX induced mortality and convulsions. With both carbamates, trihexyphenidyl gave similar protective benefits against VX. Scopolamine, however, under the conditions used herein, failed to act beneficially with Pyr against VX.     

Anticonvulsant treatment of sarin-induced seizures with nasal midazolam: an electrographic, behavioral, and histological study in freely moving rats

Centrally mediated seizures and convulsions are common consequences of exposure to organophosphates (OPs). These seizures rapidly progress to status epilepticus (SE) and contribute to profound brain injury. Effective management of these seizures is critical for minimization of brain damage. Nasal application of midazolam (1.5 mg/kg) after 5 min of sarin-induced electrographic seizure activity (EGSA) ameliorated EGSA and convulsive behavior (238 +/- 90 s). Identical treatment after 30 min was not sufficient to ameliorate ECoG paradoxical activity and convulsive behavior. Nasal midazolam (1.5 mg/kg), together with scopolamine (1 mg/kg, im) after 5 min of EGSA, exerted a powerful and rapid anticonvulsant effect (53 +/- 10 s). Delaying the same treatment to 30 min of EGSA leads to attenuation of paroxysmal ECoG activity in all cases but total cessation of paroxysmal activity was not observed in most animals tested. Cognitive tests utilizing the Morris Water Maze demonstrated that nasal midazolam alone or together with scopolamine (im), administered after 5 min of convulsions, abolished the effect of sarin on learning. Both these treatments, when given after 30 min of convulsions, only decreased the sarin-induced learning impairments. Whereas rats which were not subject to the anticonvulsant agents did not show any memory for the platform location, both treatments (at 5 min as well as at 30 min) completely abolished the memory deficits. Both treatments equally blocked the impairment of reversal learning when given at 5 min. However, when administered after 30 min, midazolam alone reversed the impairments in reversal learning, while midazolam with scopolamine did not. Rats exposed to sarin and treated with the therapeutic regimen with the exclusion of midazolam exhibited severe brain lesions that encountered the hippocampus, pyriform cortex, and thalamus. Nasal midazolam at 5 min prevented brain damage, while delaying the midazolam treatment to 30 min of EGSA resulted in brain damage. The addition of scopolamine to midazolam did not alter the above observation. In summary, nasal midazolam treatment briefly after initiation of OP-induced seizure leads to cessation of EGSA and prevented brain lesions and behavioral deficiencies in the rat model.     

Analysis of the role of the 5-HT1B receptor in spatial and aversive learning in the rat.

The present study examined the role of the 5-HT1B receptor in learning and memory. The ability of the 5-HT1B receptor agonist anpirtoline and the selective 5-HT1B receptor antagonist NAS-181 to affect spatial learning in the water maze (WM) and aversive learning in the passive avoidance (PA) task were examined in the rat. Anpirtoline (0.1-1.0 mg/kg, s.c.) caused a dose-dependent impairment of learning and memory in both the WM and PA tasks. NAS-181 (1.0-10 mg/kg, s.c.) failed to alter performance of the WM task, but produced a dose-dependent (0.1-20 mg/kg) facilitation of PA retention. Furthermore, treatment with NAS-181 (10 mg/kg) fully blocked the impairment of the WM and PA performance caused by anpirtoline (1.0 mg/kg). In contrast, NAS-181 (3.0-10 mg/kg) did not attenuate the spatial learning deficit and the impairment of PA retention caused by scopolamine (0.1 mg/kg in WM task, 0.3 mg/kg in PA task, s.c.), a nonselective muscarinic antagonist. Moreover, a subthreshold dose of scopolamine (0.1 mg/kg) blocked the facilitation of PA retention induced by NAS-181 (1.0-10 mg/kg). In addition, the behavioral disturbances (eg thigmotaxic swimming and platform deflections) induced by anpirtoline and scopolamine were analyzed in the WM task and correlated with WM performance. These results indicate that: (1) 5-HT1B receptor stimulation and blockade result in opposite effects in two types of cognitive tasks in the rat, and that (2) the 5-HT1B antagonist NAS-181 can facilitate some aspects of cognitive function, most likely via an increase of cholinergic transmission. These results suggest that 5-HT1B receptor antagonists may have a potential in the treatment of cognitive deficits resulting from loss of cholinergic transmission.     

Effects of combinational prophylactics composed of physostigmine and procyclidine on soman-induced lethality, seizures and brain injuries

The antidotal, anticonvulsant and neuroprotective effects of physostigmine (PhS) and procyclidine (PC), the combinational prophylactics for organophosphate poisoning, were evaluated. For the investigation of dose-response relationship in rats and guinea pigs, various doses (0-6 mg/kg) of PC in combination with a fixed dose (0.1 mg/kg) of PhS were pretreated subcutaneously 30 min prior to subcutaneous poisoning with soman. Procyclidine in combination with PhS exhibited remarkable synergistic effects in a dose-dependent manner, leading to 1.92-5.07 folds of protection ratio in rats and 3.00-4.70 folds in guinea pigs. On the other hand, a low effect (1.65 fold) was achieved with the traditional antidotes atropine (17.4 mg/kg) plus 2-pralidoxime (30 mg/kg) treated immediately after soman poisoning, compared with a marked protection (5.50 fold) with atropine (17.4 mg/kg) plus HI-6 (125 mg/kg) in unpretreated rats. Noteworthy, the combinational prophylactics greatly potentiated the effect of atropine plus 2-pralidoxime to 6.13 or 12.27 folds and that of atropine plus HI-6 to 12.00 or 21.50 folds with 1.0 or 3.0 mg/kg of PC, respectively. A high dose (100 μg/kg, 1.3×LD(50)) of soman induced severe epileptiform seizures in rats pretreated with HI-6 (125 mg/kg), resulting in brain injuries in discrete brain regions under histopathological examination in 24 h. Interestingly, such seizures and excitotoxic brain injuries were fully prevented by pretreatment with PhS (0.1 mg/kg) and PC (1 mg/kg). Taken together, it is proposed that the prophylactics composed of PhS and PC could be a promising regimen for the prevention of lethality, seizures and brain injuries induced by soman poisoning.     

Pavlovian conditioning between co-administered drugs: elicitation of an apomorphine-induced antiparkinsonian response by scopolamine

Sprague-Dawley rats with unilateral 6-OHDA substantia nigra lesions were given combined scopolamine (0.5 mg/kg IP) and apomorphine (0.05 mg/kg SC) treatments. In this animal model, scopolamine, when administered separately, induces ipsilateral rotation and apomorphine, contralateral rotation. When these drugs are co-administered at 0.5 mg/kg and 0.05 mg/kg dose levels, respectively, animals rotate in the contralateral direction, creating the opportunity for the stimulus effect of scopolamine to become associated with the response effect of apomorphine. In tests with scopolamine (0.5 mg/kg), animals that previously had scopolamine and apomorphine co-administered rotated contralaterally in the test chamber, thereby behaving as if they had received apomorphine. Thus, scopolamine exhibited a functionally acquired conditioned stimulus (CS) property by eliciting the apomorphine response of contralateral rotation as a conditioned response. This acquired CS property was extinguished with separate scopolamine trials and reacquired following one scopolamine-apomorphine co-administration trial.     

Cholinergic drugs affect novel object recognition in rats: relation with hippocampal EEG?

This study examined the role of cognitively enhancing cholinergic drugs on both object memory and brain activity in rats, as well as the possible relation between the two measures. A group of twenty-four animals was used for assessing object recognition. In another group of eight rats, an electrode was implanted into the dorsal hippocampus to record an electroencephalogram (EEG) and auditory evoked potentials (AEP). In both groups, animals were treated with saline, 0.1 mg/kg scopolamine, 0.1 mg/kg methylscopolamine, 3 mg/kg donepezil, donepezil combined with scopolamine, 0.1 mg/kg nicotine, and nicotine combined with scopolamine. Scopolamine, but not methylscopolamine, impaired object recognition. Both donepezil and nicotine reversed this impairment. The N1 and N2 components of the AEP became closer to baseline after scopolamine, which was not reversed by donepezil or nicotine. Scopolamine increased the theta frequency in the EEG. When combined with donepezil, theta increased even more. Conversely, nicotine reversed the theta increment to control level. It is suggested that scopolamine caused a decrement in arousal in this study. Furthermore, the current results suggest a relation between EEG and object memory after cholinergic drug treatment. However, there was a clear dissociation between memory performance and EEG after combined treatment with drugs, which makes additional research where EEG and performance measures are co-registered imperative.     

Scopolamine impairs both working and reference memory in rats: a replication and extension

Rats were trained to run in a spatial, radial maze for sucrose reward using a procedure that permitted determination of two memory functions [working memory (WM) and reference memory (RM)]. Injections of saline, 0.1, 0.4, and 0.8 mg/kg of scopolamine hydrobromide were administered using a Latin-square design; a single dose (0.4 mg/kg) of scopolamine methylbromide served as a control for peripheral drug effects. The smallest dose of scopolamine (0.1 mg/kg) had no measurable effect on performance, but as the dose was increased to 0.4 and 0.8 mg/kg there were increases in both WM and RM errors, in errors of omission, and increases in running time. These results support the view that the effects of scopolamine on performance in the radial maze is not specific for working memory, but rather the effects are more general in nature.     

Antiparkinson drugs used as prophylactics for nerve agents: studies of cognitive side effects in rats

Antiparkinson agents possess excellent anticonvulsant properties against nerve agent-induced seizures by exerting both cholinergic and glutamatergic antagonisms. It is important, however, that drugs used as prophylactics not by themselves cause impairment of cognitive capability. The purpose of the present study was to make a comparative assessment of potential cognitive effects of benactyzine (0.3 mg/kg), biperiden (0.11 mg/kg), caramiphen (10 mg/kg), procyclidine (3 mg/kg), and trihexyphenidyl (0.12 mg/kg) separately and each in combination with physostigmine (0.1 mg/kg). The results showed that benactyzine, caramiphen, and trihexyphenidyl reduced rats' innate preference for novelty, whereas biperiden and procyclidine did not. When benactyzine, caramiphen, and trihexyphenidyl were combined with physostigmine the cognitive impairment disappeared. This counteracting effect, however, caused changes in locomotor and rearing activities not seen by each drug alone. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and anticholinergics used as prophylactics can offset each other, but exceptions are observed in a previous study when a very potent anticholinergic (scopolamine) or a high dose of procyclidine still results in cognitive deficits in spite of coadministration with physostigmine. Among the present drugs tested, procyclidine appears to be a robust anticonvulsant with few cognitive side effects.     

Efficacy of oxime plus atropine treatment against soman poisoning in the atropinesterase-free rabbit.

The oximes pralidoxime chloride (2-PAM), MMB4, and HI-6 were evaluated in combination with atropine as treatments against soman poisoning in atropinesterase-free rabbits. Animals were challenged i.m. with 2 x LD50 soman and treated at the onset of toxic signs with 50 mumols/kg of oxime and 5 or 13 mg/kg atropine. Survival and time to death were compared at 48 hours post-soman challenge. Survival rates in MMB4 and HI-6 treated animals were higher than in 2-PAM-treated animals. The increase in survival was significant at the 13 mg/kg dose of atropine. MMB4 and HI-6 also significantly delayed time to death after soman compared to 2-PAM. The results suggest that MMB4 and HI-6 have potential as useful oximes for treating soman poisoning.     

An evaluation of the mechanism of scopolamine-induced impairment in two passive avoidance protocols

The effects of several doses of the centrally-acting muscarinic antagonist, scopolamine, on subsequent learning and memory were examined using two versions of a standard light versus dark passive avoidance paradigm. The first protocol was employed primarily to examine the effects of scopolamine on the acquisition component of learning and memory as subject performance was measured during five successive (repeated) training trials. The second protocol employed a one-trial twenty-four hour retention task in which subjects were given one training trial followed by one testing trial twenty-four hours later. This latter test encompasses acquisition, retention, and recall components of learning and memory. Dose response studies indicated an effective dose range of 0.4-1.2 mg/kg with 0.8 mg/kg producing maximal performance decrement. Differential scopolamine treatment demonstrated that the drug's primary effect was on the acquisition component only under the present experimental protocols. Furthermore, scopolamine was not found to produce state-dependent learning. Animals administered scopolamine before training and testing failed to perform better than animals receiving pre-training administration only.     

Antagonism of anticholinesterase (DFP) toxicity by donepezil plus scopolamine: a preliminary study

Studies in animals exploring the antagonism of the cholinesterase inhibitors soman and sarin have shown that pretreatment with low doses of the centrally acting cholinesterase inhibitor, physostigmine, alone or in conjunction with the centrally acting anticholinergic agent, scopolamine, is effective against their lethality and toxicity. The current study evaluated the effects of pretreatment with the oral anticholinesterase agent, donepezil (Aricept, 2.0 mg/kg), used to treat Alzheimer's disease, with and without scopolamine in decreasing the hypothermic, hypokinetic, and diarrhea-inducing effects of the irreversible long-acting cholinesterase inhibitor diisopropyl fluorophosphate (DFP, 1.0 mg/kg) in adult Flinders sensitive line (FSL) male rats. Donepezil alone and donepezil plus scopolamine (0.1 mg/kg) to a greater extent antagonized the decrease in temperature, hypoactivity, and induction of diarrhea due to DFP observed at 4 h after its administration. However, donepezil alone induced hypothermia at 1 and 2 h after treatment. Therefore, these preliminary findings are encouraging, but many additional studies are needed to establish the effectiveness of donepezil as a prophylactic agent against irreversible cholinesterase inhibition by DFP.     

Dissociation of the effects of scopolamine and d-amphetamine on a spontaneous alternation task

The immediate and carry-over effects of scopolamine and d-amphetamine were evaluated in a free running Y-maze spontaneous alternation task. The immediate effect of scopolamine (1.0 mg/kg) or d-amphetamine (5.0 mg/kg) was to reduce alternation to chance or to levels significantly below chance (persereration), respectively. On a second, non-drug test day alternation decreased in saline treated animals, but increased among mice which received scopolamine on Day 1. In contrast, upon retesting in the non-drug state, the performance of animals initially treated with d-amphetamine resembled that of saline treated mice. Subsequent experiments revealed that these effects could not be attributed to drug effects on peripheral mechanisms, memory consolidation, residual drug action or drug dissociated learning. It was concluded that the behavioral effects of scopolamine and d-amphetamine are qualitatively different. Whereas scopolamine disrupts habituation, d-amphetamine induces perservation independently of any effects on habituation.     

Ganglioside GM1 attenuates scopolamine-induced amnesia in rats and mice

 Some experimental evidence suggests that the beneficial effects of monosialoganglioside GM1 on learning and memory could be related to an improving effect in central cholinergic function. The present study investigates the effects of GM1 on the memory impairment induced by scopolamine in rats or mice tested in passive (PA) and discriminative avoidance (DA) tasks, respectively. Wistar EPM-1 male rats and Swiss EPM-M1 male mice were treated daily IP with 50 mg/kg GM1 or saline for 7 or 14 days, respectively. Twenty-four hours after the last injection, GM1-treated animals received 1 mg/kg scopolamine (GM1-SCO) and saline-treated animals received 1 mg/kg scopolamine (SAL-SCO) or saline (SAL-SAL) IP. Twenty minutes later, the animals were submitted to PA or DA conditioning, and tests were performed 24 h later. The latency in entering the dark chamber of the PA apparatus (LD) presented by SAL-SCO rats was significantly decreased when compared to that presented by SAL-SAL animals. GM1-SCO animals showed an increased LD when compared to SAL-SCO animals and were not significantly different from SAL-SAL rats. GM1-SCO and SAL-SAL (but not SAL-SCO) mice spent significantly less time in the aversive enclosed arm of the discriminative avoidance apparatus when compared to the time spent in the non-aversive enclosed arm. The results are consistent with the interpretation that GM1 attenuates scopolamine-induced amnesia. Although not eliminating the participation of other transmitter systems, the present study indicates a possible role of central cholinergic transmission in the action of this compound on learning and memory. Received: 21 October 1997 / Final version: 8 June 1998     

石杉碱甲改善老年大鼠水迷宫操作记忆障碍(英文)

目的:测试石杉碱甲对自然衰老及东莨菪碱导致的空间记忆缺损的作用。方法:采用大鼠的水迷宫操作,检测石杉碱甲对获得及记忆的作用。结果:连续7天获得试验期间,皮下注射石杉碱甲0.1-0.2mg/kg能明显缩短老年大鼠找到平台的潜伏期。在第8天撤去平台的记忆测试,石杉碱甲0.1,0.2与0.4 mg/kg明显延长老年大鼠在该平台区的游泳时间。单次腹腔注射东莨菪碱0.1mg/kg明显损害已训练达标老年大鼠的空间记忆。皮下注射石杉碱甲0.4 mg/kg明显翻转东莨菪碱产生的记忆损害作用。结论:石杉碱甲能改善老年大鼠自然衰老或东莨菪碱产生的记忆障碍。