Galanthamine, an acetylcholine inhibitor, prevents prepulse inhibition deficits induced by adolescent social isolation or MK-801 treatment

Shuang Shao; Man Li; Wei Du; Feng Shao; Weiwen Wang

doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2014.09.032

Galanthamine, an acetylcholine inhibitor, prevents prepulse inhibition deficits induced by adolescent social isolation or MK-801 treatment

Brain Res. 2014 Nov 17:1589:105-11. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2014.09.032. Epub 2014 Oct 2.

Authors

Shuang Shao¹, Man Li¹, Wei Du¹, Feng Shao², Weiwen Wang³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
² Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. Electronic address: shaof@pku.edu.cn.
³ Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: wangww@psych.ac.cn.

PMID: 25281804
DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2014.09.032

Abstract

Adolescence is a critical period for neurodevelopment. MK-801 treatment and social isolation are important animal models for various neurodevelopmental disorders. Dysfunctions in the central cholinergic system are involved in creating the cognitive deficits observed in neurological diseases. In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor galanthamine could reverse pre-cognitive prepulse inhibition (PPI) deficits and spatial learning deficits of adult rats in the Morris water maze. We induced these effects using either adolescent MK-801 treatment or social isolation from postnatal day (PND) 38-51. Our results showed that both adolescent social isolation and MK-801 treatment impaired PPI in adult rats, but neither had an effect on spatial learning. Furthermore, galanthamine injections over 7 days significantly enhanced PPI of normal rats and improved PPI disruption induced by adolescent pharmacological and rearing interventions. The results suggest that acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, such as galanthamine, might have the potential to improve pre-cognition in neurodevelopmental diseases by improving auditory sensory gating.

Keywords: Adolescence; Galanthamine; MK-801; Prepulse inhibition; Social isolation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Age Factors
Animals
Cholinesterase Inhibitors / pharmacology*
Cognition Disorders / chemically induced
Cognition Disorders / physiopathology*
Cognition Disorders / prevention & control*
Disease Models, Animal
Dizocilpine Maleate / toxicity
Galantamine / pharmacology*
Male
Prepulse Inhibition / drug effects*
Prepulse Inhibition / physiology
Rats
Rats, Wistar
Social Isolation
Spatial Learning / drug effects*
Spatial Learning / physiology

Substances

Cholinesterase Inhibitors
Galantamine
Dizocilpine Maleate